Justice Surya Kant Sworn In as 53rd Chief Justice of India

Justice Surya Kant on Monday took oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI), succeeding Justice B.R. Gavai and marking the beginning of a tenure that will run for nearly 15 months. The oath of office was administered by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar, Haryana, Justice Surya Kant began his legal career in 1984 at the Hisar district court before shifting to Chandigarh the following year to practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He specialised in constitutional, service and civil matters, representing several universities, boards, corporations, banks, and even the High Court.

On July 7, 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana, and in March 2001, he was designated as a Senior Advocate. He continued serving as Advocate General until his elevation as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004.

After nearly 15 years on the High Court bench, Justice Surya Kant was appointed as a Supreme Court judge on May 24, 2019. Over the years, he has also served two terms on the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and is presently associated with various committees of the Indian Law Institute.

An alumnus of Government Post Graduate College (1981) and Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak (LLB, 1984), Justice Surya Kant has emphasised that reducing pendency of cases will be a central focus of his tenure. Speaking to legal journalists ahead of his swearing-in, he described mediation as a “game changer” capable of enabling quicker, off-court settlements.

He highlighted serious challenges faced by the judiciary, including overlapping legal matters, which result in thousands of cases being kept in abeyance across courts pending decisions from larger benches. This, he explained, stalls progress not only in the Supreme Court but also in High Courts and District Courts.

Justice Surya Kant stressed the need for a pan-India approach as well as individual court-level interventions to tackle arrears effectively.

The oath-taking ceremony was notable for the presence of one of the largest delegations of foreign chief justices and dignitaries ever to attend the swearing-in of an Indian CJI. Representatives from Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Kenya and Sri Lanka graced the occasion.

The distinguished attendees included:

• Sri Lanka: Chief Justice P. Padman Surasena, Sepalika Surasena, and Supreme Court Justice S. Thurairaja

• Nepal: Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut; Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla; Minister of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs Anil Kumar Sinha and spouse Ursila Sinha

• Mauritius: Chief Justice Bibi Rehana Mungly-Gulbul and daughter Rebecca Hanna Bibi Gulbul

• Malaysia: Federal Court Judge Tan Sri Datuk Nalini Pathmanathan and spouse Pasupathy Sivapragasam

• Kenya: Chief Justice Martha Koome and Supreme Court Judge Susan Njoki Ndungu

• Bhutan: Chief Justice Lyonpo Norbu Tshering and spouse Lhaden Lotay

Justice Surya Kant is scheduled to retire on February 9, 2027, concluding a tenure of nearly 15 months as India’s top judge.