NEW DELHI: Tough, effervescent and pragmatic Chief Justice JS Khehar , who struck down the government’s ambitious NJAC Act that would have given the executive a final say over judicial appointments and ruled for citizens’ right to privacy , on Friday made way for a diminutive, quiet man with a steely resolve who will take over as next Chief Justice of India on Monday.Though Justice Khehar will formally demit office on Sunday, Friday was his last working day. CJI-designate Dipak Misra will take over on Monday, after he is sworn in by the President to the highest judicial office.‘The outgoing CJI hit the limelight with the 2G reference case where he said natural resources should not be handed over for commercial exploitation for a steal, though auction may not be the only method of allotting such resource. In the week before his retirement, the CJI ruled on two critical issues, as part of constitutional benches: triple talaq and right to privacy.In one, he said personal laws were part of right to religion, a huge shot in the arm for minority rights groups. He would only deign to impose a temporary ban till the government changed the law.But he was in a minority in holding that view. But he unequivocally spoke up for the citizens’ fundamental right to privacy — though his pragmatism in avoiding a conflict with a majority government had placed him at odds with many. Justice Khehar was seen as a good administrator, who kept a very tight rein on garrulous lawyers and frivolous litigants alike in court.Misra, on the other hand, is a quiet, diminutive man with a steely resolve. He has done his fair share of constitutional arm-twisting without raising his voice: he got the government to withdraw President’s rule in Uttarakhand rather than have an adverse order passed against it.His order making the national anthem mandatory in movie halls did stir up a controversy, but those who know him speak about his commitment to the symbols of Indian democracy and the Indian state: the flag, the emblem, and of course, the Constitution.His rulings in Nirbhaya and the Mumbai blasts case had showed his steely side. He has his work cut out – filing up judicial vacancies, dealing with contentious cases such as Ayodhya , Cauvery and women’s right to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.He also gets the contentious MOP (Memorandum of Procedure of appointment of judges) issue in legacy from Khehar. The court hasn’t agreed to the security clause which would allow the government to veto superior court appointments. That will be a tough one.