The Supreme Court of India has received its new head. Justice Surya Kant was sworn in on Monday as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI). His tenure will last for about 14 months, and he is scheduled to retire on 9 February 2027. He succeeds Justice B.R. Gavai. The oath was administered by President Droupadi Murmu.
Justice Surya Kant brings with him over two decades of judicial experience. He served in the High Court before being elevated to the Supreme Court. His body of work includes landmark judgments related to Article 370, freedom of speech, democracy, corruption, environmental protection, and gender equality.
Who is Justice Surya Kant?
Justice Surya Kant was born on 10 February 1962 in Petwar village of Hisar district, Haryana, into a family of teachers. He spent his early years far from urban life and first saw a town only when he travelled to Hansi to appear for his Class 10 board examinations. Until Class 8, he studied in a village school that didn’t even have benches.
He graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar in 1981, and completed his law degree from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak in 1984. The same year, he began practising law at the Hisar district court. In 1985, he moved to Chandigarh to practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
In July 2000, he was appointed Advocate General of Haryana, becoming the youngest person to hold the post. He was designated a Senior Advocate in March 2001. In January 2004, he was appointed a Permanent Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Later, on 5 October 2018, he took oath as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and on 24 May 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.
Major Judgments by Justice Surya Kant
As a Supreme Court judge, Justice Surya Kant authored around 80 significant judgments. Among these was the decision overturning the 1967 ruling related to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), paving the way for reconsideration of the institution’s minority status.
He also presided over key cases such as:
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Petitions challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act
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Granting bail to then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case
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Serving on the bench that heard the Pegasus spyware matter, which led to the formation of a panel of cyber experts to investigate allegations of unlawful surveillance. The court observed that the State cannot claim a “free pass” under the blanket cover of national security.
