Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was today sworn in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee.
63-year-old Justice Dattu took oath in the name of God at a brief ceremony held at the chandeliered Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar and BJP veteran L K Advani were among those present at the ceremony.
Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Rajeev Shulka were the only prominent opposition leaders who attended the programme.
Justice R M Lodha, who retired yesterday as the CJI, senior judges of the Supreme Court, the High Court, retired judges and members of the Bar were also present.
Justice Dattu has been heading the bench monitoring investigations into the 2G spectrum scam.
He will have a tenure of 14 months and will retire on December 2, 2015.
"I will request for blessing of all citizens of this country to give me courage and confidence to take this institution of mine to the highest stride," he had said earlier this month when the file relating to his appointment reached the Prime Minister's Office.
"Mine is the best institution in the world," he had said.
