Ex-CJI Justice HL Dattu will be next Chairperson of NHRC

NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was today selected as the next Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.

A committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the name of Dattu for the post which was lying vacant for the last eight months after the retirement of K G Balakrishnan.

Besides the Prime Minister, the meeting was attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien.

Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge did not attend the meeting.

65-year-old Justice Dattu had retired as Chief Justice of India on December 2 last year and after taking over as NHRC Chairperson he will have a tenure of five years.

The name will be sent to the President Pranab Mukherjee for his nod.

Under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the President appoints the chairperson and members of the NHRC on the recommendation of the high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister.

Justice Dattu was Chief Justice of India from September 28, 2014 to December 2, 2015

Justice Dattu enrolled as an advocate in 1975 and began practising in Bangalore and dealt with all types of matters -- civil, criminal, tax and Constitutional cases.

From 1983 onwards he appeared in various capacities before the Karnataka High Court including as government pleader for sales tax department, standing counsel for Income Tax department and later as government advocate.

After being designated as a senior standing counsel for I-T department in 1995, Justice Dattu was elevated as a judge of the Karnataka High Court.

He was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court in February 2007 and shortly afterwards shifted in the same capacity to the Kerala High Court.