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

New Delhi: In a historic moment for the Indian judiciary, Justice Surya Kant took oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on Monday, becoming the first-ever judge born in Haryana to occupy the country’s highest judicial office. The 63-year-old justice, whose journey began in the modest fields of Petwar village in Hisar district, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Ganatantra Mandap in the presence of Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, and several Cabinet ministers.

Justice Surya Kant succeeded Justice B.R. Gavai, who officially retired on November 23, 2025, after a distinguished tenure. In a touching gesture that set a new precedent, retiring CJI Justice Gavai left his official car at Rashtrapati Bhavan for his successor — a rare act of continuity and respect in judicial tradition.

A Series of Firsts for Justice Surya Kant

Born on February 10, 1962, in Petwar village, Narnaund region of Hisar, Justice Surya Kant carries multiple groundbreaking distinctions:

• First Haryana-born Chief Justice of India
• First-generation lawyer in his family
• Youngest Advocate General of Haryana (at age 38 in 2000)
• First CJI in recent decades to rise entirely outside traditional legal dynasties

Coming from a middle-class family, his father, Madan Gopal Shastri, was a Sanskrit teacher in a government school, while his mother was a homemaker. Justice Kant is the youngest of five siblings — three brothers and one sister. His elder sister Kamla Devi (74) lives in Jind, brother Dr Shiv Kant is a pulmonologist in Bhiwani, brother Dev Kant (66) retired as an ITI instructor in Hisar, and brother Rishi Kant is a retired drawing teacher still living in the ancestral home.

His wife, Savita Kant, recently retired as principal of a government college in Panchkula.

In a Supreme Court where at least 11 of the current 33 judges (including the CJI) are closely related to former judges and around 10 have fathers who were lawyers, Justice Surya Kant stands out as a powerful exception — proof that merit and determination can break through entrenched legal lineages.

Educational and Professional Journey

Justice Kant completed his Class 10 from his village school in Hisar and pursued undergraduate studies at Government Post Graduate College, Hisar (graduating in 1981). He earned his LLB from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984 and began practising law the same year at Hisar District Court.

In 1985, he shifted to Chandigarh and built a formidable practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, specialising in constitutional, civil, and service matters. At just 38, he became Haryana’s youngest Advocate General in 2000 and was designated Senior Advocate the following year.

He was elevated as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004 at the age of 42. After 14 years of distinguished service, he was appointed Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court on October 5, 2018. Less than a year later, on May 24, 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.

Remarkably, while serving as a sitting judge, he completed his LLM through distance mode from Kurukshetra University in 2011 — securing first-class first position.

Landmark Judgments That Defined His Tenure

During his six-plus years in the Supreme Court, Justice Surya Kant has authored over 300 judgments and participated in several Constitution Bench decisions of national importance:

1. Part of the Constitution Bench that upheld the abrogation of Article 370 and set a deadline for assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir.
2. Key members of the recent Presidential Reference bench that clarified governors cannot be given fixed timelines for assent to state bills, nor can courts grant “deemed assent”.
3. Part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance and barred fresh FIRs until government review.
4. Directed Election Commission to publish names of 6.5 million voters excluded during Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar electoral rolls.
5. Headed the bench that appointed a five-member committee under former SC judge Justice Indu Malhotra to probe the 2022 security lapse during PM Modi’s Punjab visit, emphasising the need for “a judicially trained mind”.
6. Upheld the constitutional validity of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for armed forces.
7. Part of the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 verdict on Aligarh Muslim University’s minority status, paving the way for fresh determination.
8. In the Pegasus spyware case, appointed a technical committee of cyber experts and declared that the state cannot get a “free pass in the guise of national security”.
9. In Kirti vs Oriental Insurance (2021), dramatically increased motor accident compensation for a homemaker’s death from ₹22 lakh to ₹33.2 lakh, holding that homemakers contribute immense economic value.
10. Ordered one-third reservation for women in all bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association.
11. Reinstated a woman sarpanch unlawfully removed from office, calling out deep-rooted gender bias.
12. In the 2025 ‘India Got Latent’ controversy involving YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, reminded that free speech is not absolute.
13. Granted interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal while upholding the legality of his arrest by CBI.
14. Part of the bench that upheld Section 6A of the Citizenship Act related to Assam.

Priorities as the New Chief Justice of India

With nearly 90,000 pending cases in the Supreme Court, Justice Surya Kant has identified backlog reduction as his biggest challenge. In pre-oath interviews, he outlined a clear roadmap:

• Optimum utilisation of judicial time and manpower
• Constitution of special benches for oldest pending cases
• Reviving the healthy practice of approaching lower courts first
• Aggressive promotion of mediation as a “game-changer”
• Encouraging government departments to settle disputes through mediation
• Digital upgrades, procedural streamlining, and strict punctuality
• Infrastructure improvement and greater use of technology

He also launched the Veer Parivaar Sahayata Yojana 2025 as NALSA Executive Chairman to provide free legal aid to soldiers, veterans, and their families.

Describing his judicial philosophy as “humanistic”, Justice Kant draws inspiration from his rural upbringing: “A farmer’s patience taught me that justice, like harvest, cannot be rushed. A poet’s empathy helps me see the human stories behind dry facts. The law gives the structure, but humanity completes the justice.”

A New Chapter for Indian Judiciary

Justice Surya Kant will serve as CJI for a little over 14 months until his retirement on February 9, 2027. His appointment breaks several glass ceilings and sends a powerful message — that the highest judicial office in the world’s largest democracy is within reach of a first-generation lawyer from a Haryana village who once walked barefoot to school.

As he assumes leadership of an institution facing mounting pendency, public scrutiny, and rapid societal change, Justice Surya Kant’s blend of rural-rooted resilience, scholarly depth, and progressive outlook is expected to shape Indian jurisprudence in the coming years.

With his mantra of “farmer’s patience and poet’s empathy”, the 53rd Chief Justice of India has already begun writing a new chapter — one that promises to make justice not just blind, but deeply human.

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