Justice Dattu to be next CJI

Supreme Court judge H.L. Dattu will be the next Chief Justice of India, it was announced Friday.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 124 of the constitution of India, the president is pleased to appoint Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu, judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from Sep 28, 2014," added the statement.

Justice Dattu will succeed Chief Justice R.M. Lodha who held the post from April 27.

Born Dec 3, 1950, Justice Dattu was appointed as judge in the Karnataka High Court Dec 18, 1995.

He was appointed as chief justice of the Chattisgarh High Court Feb 12, 2007 but was transferred to the Kerala High Court May 18 that year. He was appointed an apex court Dec 17, 2008 and is due to retire Dec 2, 2015.