Justice Surya Kant took oath Monday as the 53rd Chief Justice of India, succeeding Justice BR Gavai. He will serve for nearly 15 months, demitting office on February 9, 2027, upon turning 65.
Early Life and Education
Born February 10, 1962, in Hisar, Haryana, to a middle-class family, Justice Surya Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar, in 1981. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in law from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984, and later achieved “first class first” in his master’s degree in law from Kurukshetra University in 2011.
Legal Career Trajectory
Justice Kant began practicing law at Hisar district court in 1984, shifting to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice in Punjab and Haryana High Court. He became Haryana’s youngest Advocate General in 2000, before being appointed Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2018.
Supreme Court Tenure and Landmark Judgments
Elevated as Supreme Court judge in 2019, Justice Kant participated in numerous significant verdicts, including the recent presidential reference on governor and president powers in dealing with state assembly bills. He was part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing no new cases be registered until government review.
Justice Surya Kant nudged the Election Commission to disclose details of 65 lakh voters excluded from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls while hearing petitions challenging Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters list before recent assembly elections.
Gender Justice Advocacy
He led a bench that reinstated a woman sarpanch unlawfully removed from office, calling out gender bias. He is credited with directing that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women.
Other Notable Cases
Justice Kant was part of the bench that appointed a five-member committee headed by former Justice Indu Malhotra to probe the security breach during PM Modi’s 2022 Punjab visit, stating such matters required “a judicially trained mind.”
He upheld the One Rank-One Pension scheme for defense forces as constitutionally valid and continues hearing petitions from women officers seeking parity in permanent commission.
Justice Kant served on the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 Aligarh Muslim University judgment, opening reconsideration of the institution’s minority status. He also heard the Pegasus spyware case, appointing cyber experts to probe unlawful surveillance allegations, stating the state cannot get a “free pass under the guise of national security.”
