Justice Surya Kant on Monday took oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, succeeding Justice BR Gavai and beginning a tenure that will run until February 9, 2027.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath in the presence of a large foreign judicial delegation.
Justice Surya Kant has been part of several landmark verdicts, including one on the abrogation of Article 370, which removed Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
Justice Kant was appointed as the next CJI on October 30 and will remain in the post for nearly 15 months. He will demit office on February 9, 2027, on attaining the age of 65 years.
Vice President C P Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the senior leaders who attended the ceremony.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar, Haryana, Justice Kant began practising law at the Hisar district court in 1984 and shifted the following year to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh. Specialising in constitutional, civil and service matters, he represented universities, boards, corporations, banks and even the High Court.
He became Haryana’s youngest Advocate General in July 2000 and was designated a senior advocate the following year. On January 9, 2004, he was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court before his elevation to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. He has also served two terms on the governing body of the National Legal Services Authority and is associated with several committees of the Indian Law Institute.
He announced plans to constitute five-, seven-, and nine-judge Constitution Benches in the coming weeks to address key legal questions that have stalled proceedings in High Courts and district courts.
The swearing-in ceremony saw an unprecedented turnout of chief justices and senior judicial representatives from Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Kenya and Sri Lanka.
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Attendees included Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice P. Padman Surasena, Nepal’s Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, Mauritius Chief Justice Bibi Rehana Mungly-Gulbul, Malaysia’s Justice Tan Sri Datuk Nalini Pathmanathan, Kenya’s Chief Justice Martha Koome, and Bhutan’s Chief Justice Lyonpo Norbu Tshering, along with their accompanying delegations.
