Justice Surya Kant sworn in as 53rd Chief Justice of India
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New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Monday administered the oath of office to Justice Surya Kant, who assumed charge as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI), at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the national Capital. Marking a notable departure from recent tradition, Justice Kant took his oath in Hindi, invoking the name of God.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, Union ministers, Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini, judges of the Supreme Court, and Chief Justices and judges from Bhutan, Kenya, Malaysia, Brazil, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Justice Kant will serve a tenure of about 14 months and is set to demit office on February 9, 2027.
His appointment was cleared by the Centre on October 30, following the recommendation of then CJI Bhushan R. Gavai. “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Surya Kant, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24, 2025,” the Union Law and Justice Ministry had stated in its notification.
Born on February 10, 1962, into a middle-class family in Haryana, Justice Surya Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar, in 1981 and earned his law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984.
He began his legal career in Hisar in 1984 before shifting to Chandigarh the following year to practise at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Over time, he built expertise across constitutional, service, and civil matters, representing universities, Boards, corporations, banks, and even the High Court.
On July 7, 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was designated a senior advocate in March 2001. He was elevated as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004.
Justice Kant later served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court from October 5, 2018, until his elevation to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. He has also contributed significantly to judicial and legal service institutions.
He served two consecutive terms (2007–2011) as a member of the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and currently sits on several committees of the Indian Law Institute, a deemed university under the Supreme Court of India. Since November 2024, he has been the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
With IANS inputs