Justice T.S. Thakur has been appointed as the Chief Justice of India.
In a significant move signalling that seniority reigns supreme in the highest judiciary following the revival of the Collegium, Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu had recommended the name of Justice Tirath Singh Thakur as his successor.
Justice Thakur, who is the seniormost judge after the Chief Justice, will take over after Chief Justice retires on December 2, 2015. It is a convention that the present CJI recommends to the government the name of his successor. After the Law Ministry clears his name, the file would travel to the Prime Minister’s Office and finally reach the President. His Warrant of Appointment would be issued after the President gives his approval.
Though considered a formal routine and a courtesy from the incumbent to his successor, Chief Justice Dattu’s recommendation this time gains significance as it comes shortly after a five-judge Constitution Bench on October 16 struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission law and restored the Collegium system of judicial appointments.
Had the NJAC law been upheld in whole by the Bench, it would have been the six-member Commission, and not the CJI, who would have recommended the next Chief Justice of India.
Again, Chief Justice Dattu’s recommendation comes even as the five-judge Bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar is in the process hearing suggestions to fix the eligibility criteria for judicial appointments in an effort to make the Collegium transparent. The Bench has fixed November 5 to debate and decide on the suggestions it received from various quarters to better the Collegium style of functioning.
Justice Thakur, who is known for his patient, detailed and fair hearings of cases, would be the 43rd Chief Justice of India. He would be in office till January 4, 2017.
Justice T.S. Thakur heralded the overhaul in the Indian cricket administration by holding that no office-bearer of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) should have any commercial interests in the game. The judgment on January 22, 2015 demanded institutional integrity from the BCCI and classified the Board’s administration of cricket in India as a public function.
To read full news visit The Indian Express