The President of India, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by clause (2) of article 124 of the Constitution of India, has appointed Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, Judge of the Supreme Court as the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Thakur who is the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court shall take over as the next Chief Justice of India after the sitting Chief Justice of India HL Dattu retired on December 3, 2015.
Justice Thakur would hold the office of CJI for around 13 months and will retire on January 4, 2017.
Earlier, as per the convention, CJI HL Dattu had formally recommended the name of Justice Thakur to the President of India as his successor.
Born on 4th January, 1952, Justice Thakur was enrolled as a Pleader in October, 1972 and he joined the chamber of his father Late DD Thakur, a leading advocate and later, a Judge of High Court of J &K. He practised in Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Taxation and Service matters in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir.
He was elected as President of the Bar Association in 1986 and was designated as a Senior counsel by the High Court in the year 1990. On February 16, 1994 he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the J&K High Court and was transferred as Judge of the High Court of Karnataka in March, 1994 where he was appointed as a permanent Judge in September, 1995. Later he was transferred to the High Court of Delhi in July 2004.
Justice Thakur was appointed as acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on April 9, 2008 and took over as Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on August 11, 2008. He was elevated as Judge of Supreme Court and assumed charge on November 17, 2009. He took over as Executive Chairman, National Legal Service Authority in October 2014.