Justice Surya Kant Sworn In as 53rd Chief Justice of India
From the Editor's Desk
Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office, which Justice Kant took in Hindi. He will serve as CJI until February 9, 2027.
The ceremony was attended by a wide array of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, former CJI B.R. Gavai, former President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, H.D. Kumaraswamy, Piyush Goyal, BJP President J.P. Nadda, and former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, among others.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Petwar village of Hisar district, Haryana, Justice Kant graduated with a law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984. He began his legal career the same year at the Hisar District Courts before moving to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1985, where he specialised in constitutional, service, and civil matters.
On July 7, 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was designated a Senior Advocate. He continued in the role until his elevation as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004.
Justice Kant served on the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) from 2007 to 2011 and completed his Master’s degree in Law with First Class First distinction in 2011. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in October 2018 and elevated to the Supreme Court of India on May 24, 2019.
Since May 14, 2025, he has been serving as the Executive Chairman of NALSA and is also a member of several committees of the Indian Law Institute.
