NEW DELHI (TIP): A soft-spoken but tough judge, Justice Tirath Singh Thakur on December 3 assumed office as Chief Justice of India after being sworn in by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Justice Thakur’s term as 43 rd CJI would last for 13 months and he would retire on January 4, 2017. Well-versed in Urdu poetry, Justice Thakur, who passed several signficant orders in IPL spot fixing scandal, Subrata Roy Sahara case, NRHM and Saradha and other chit fund scams, never misses an opportunity to recide couplets to mollify the frayed tempers in the court.

Son of former Judge of Jammu and Kashmir HC and Assam Governor Devi Das Thakur, Justice Thakur started his practice as pleader in 1972.

Justice Thakur became the additional judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on February 16, 1994. He was transferred to the Karnataka High Court in March 1994. He became the permanent judge in September 1995. He was transferred to the Delhi High Court in July 2004.

Justice Thakur became the acting chief justice of the Delhi High Court on April 9, 2008 and the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 11, 2008 and continued to serve in that capacity till he was elevated as the judge of the apex court.

The brief oath-taking ceremony in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and former chief justices, among others. His mother Saraswati Thakur and other family members were present at the function.