Justice Surya Kant To Become India’s 53rd Chief Justice On November 24

Highlights

   •  The government has appointed Justice Surya Kant as the next Chief Justice of India.
   •  He will succeed CJI BR Gavai on November 24, becoming the first CJI from Haryana, with a tenure lasting until February 2027.

Justice Surya Kant has been appointed as the 53rd Chief Justice of India and will assume office on November 24, a day after current CJI BR Gavai retires. The announcement marks a historic first, as Justice Kant becomes the first jurist from Haryana to hold the nation’s top judicial post. His tenure will continue until February 9, 2027.
The appointment was confirmed shortly after CJI Gavai recommended Justice Kant, calling him an ideal successor with the empathy and experience required to lead the judiciary. Born in 1962 in Hisar’s Petwar village, Justice Kant rose from modest beginnings. His father was a Sanskrit teacher, and his mother a homemaker. Educated in local schools, he earned his law degree from Maharshi Dayanand University in 1984 and later completed an LL.M. from Kurukshetra University in 2011 with top honors.
Starting his legal career in Hisar in 1984, he later moved to Chandigarh, where he built a strong practice focusing on constitutional and civil law. At 38, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was designated a Senior Advocate in 2001.
Appointed to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004, Justice Kant became known for his humanistic judgments — from upholding prisoners’ right to conjugal visits to spearheading anti-drug initiatives and ensuring post-violence sanitisation of the Dera Sacha Sauda premises. As Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, he was admired for his administrative clarity and respect for the Bar.
Elevated to the Supreme Court in 2019, Justice Kant has authored over 300 judgments across constitutional and criminal law. His work includes contributions to landmark cases such as the Article 370 verdict, the Section 6A Citizenship Act review, and rulings on the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University. He also played a key role in granting bail to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and in ongoing deliberations on the powers of the Enforcement Directorate.
Known for his humility and literary inclinations, Justice Kant combines judicial firmness with compassion. As the new CJI, he is expected to focus on judicial transparency, digitisation, and improving lower court infrastructure during his 14-month tenure.