Tirath Singh Thakur to be new CJI, to take oath on Dec 3

New Delhi: Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, who had led the Supreme Court bench which delivered a verdict on reforming the Indian Cricket Board, was on Wednesday appointed the Chief Justice of India.

He will take oath on December 3.

The senior-most judge of the apex court, Justice Thakur (63) will take over from incumbent Justice H L Dattu who retires on December 2.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from December 3, 2015," a Law Ministry statement said.

Justice Thakur headed the bench which had delivered the verdict on reforming the BCCI in the wake of the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.

The probe in the Saradha chit fund scam case is also being monitored by a Supreme Court bench headed by him. He is also hearing the multi-crore rupee NRHM scam, in which ex-UP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha is also an accused besides other politicians and bureaucrats.

Born on January 4, 1952, he would have a tenure as CJI for a little over one year and would retire on January 4, 2017.

Justice Thakur was designated as a senior advocate in 1990. On February 16, 1994, he was appointed as an additional judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and transferred as a judge of the Karnataka High Court in March, 1994.

He was appointed as a permanent judge in September 1995 and transferred to the Delhi High Court in July 2004.

Justice Thakur was appointed as acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on April 9, 2008 and on August 11, 2008, he took over as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.