Justice Tirath Singh Thakur was today sworn in as 43rd Chief Justice of India. President Pranab Mukherjee administered oath of secrecy and office to Justice Thakur at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
He succeeds Justice HL Dattu who demitted office yesterday. Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Law Minister DV Sadanand Gowda and many other Ministers, Parliamentarians, retired and serving judges were present on the occasion. Justice Thakur will have a tenure of over a year.
Born on 4th January, 1952, Thakur was enrolled as a Pleader in October, 1972 and joined the Chamber of his father Late Shri D.D. 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.
Elected as President of the Bar Association in 1986, he was designated as a Senior Advocate in the year 1990. On 16th February, 1994 he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court J&K and transferred as Judge of the High Court of Karnataka in March, 1994 where he was appointed as a permanent Judge in September, 1995. Later transferred as a Judge of the High Court of Delhi in July 2004.
Justice Thakur was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 9th April, 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 17th November, 2009. He took over as Executive Chairman, National Legal Service Authority in October 2014.
He was conferred Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) degree by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow on 31st October, 2015. His tenure will be till 3rd January, 2017.