(Image source from: NHRC gets new chairman - Former CJI HL Dattu})

Former Chief Justice of India HL Dattu took charge as the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on today. Justice KG Balakrishnan completed his tenure on May 11, last year following which member of the Commission Justice Cyriac Joseph held charge as the acting Chairperson.

Born on December 3, 1950 in the Chikamagaluru district of Karnataka, Justice Dattu, after completing his early education in Kadur, Tarikere and Birur, moved to Bengaluru to pursue his higher studies.

He completed his LLB from Bengaluru and enrolled at the Karnataka Bar Council on October 23, 1975 as an advocate and pleaded in civil, criminal, constitutional and taxation matters.

He was appointed as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court on December 18, 1995 and elevated as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court on February 12, 2007. On May 18, 2007, he was transferred to head the Kerala High Court. He was elevated as the Judge of the Supreme Court December 17, 2008 and was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on September 28, 2014. He has retired on December 2, 2015.

Justice Dattu has been associated with several significant judgments. Justice Dattu pronounced a landmark verdict, giving a ruling that "bail is the rule and jail an exception" while granting bail to five big corporate executives in the 2G case. He said: "The courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction, and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and duly found guilty."

By Premji