To take charge on November 24, succeeding Justice Bhushan R. Gavai; tenure to continue till February 2027
NEW DELHI: Justice Surya Kant, appointed on Thursday as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI), has been part of several landmark verdicts on issues ranging from the abrogation of Article 370 to corruption, gender equality, and free speech.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Surya Kant, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, as the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24, 2025. I convey my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to him,” Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced in a post on X.
Justice Kant, currently the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, will take the oath of office on November 24, 2025, and serve as CJI for nearly 15 months, demitting office on February 9, 2027, upon turning 65. The Department of Justice issued a notification confirming his appointment.
The process to appoint Justice Kant as the successor to incumbent CJI B.R. Gavai began last week. Justice Gavai recommended his name on October 27. Justice Kant was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, after serving as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court since October 5, 2018.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar district, Haryana, to a middle-class family, Justice Kant rose from being a small-town lawyer to one of the country’s foremost judges, contributing to several judgments of national and constitutional importance.
He has been part of key verdicts and committees, including the abrogation of Article 370, ending Jammu & Kashmir’s special status, the suspension of the colonial-era sedition law, directing that no new FIRs be registered until review, a Presidential reference on the powers of Governors and Presidents in dealing with state Bills, a verdict awaited for its far-reaching implications, orders directing the Election Commission to disclose details of 65 lakh voters excluded from Bihar’s electoral rolls, a ruling reinstating a wrongfully removed woman sarpanch, highlighting gender bias and grassroots democracy, directions mandating one-third reservation for women in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, the appointment of a five-member committee led by Justice Indu Malhotra to probe the 2022 security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Punjab visit, upholding the One Rank-One Pension scheme for defence personnel and hearing cases on gender parity for women officers in the armed forces, approving the Char Dham project in Uttarakhand, balancing strategic and environmental concerns, a ruling that freedom of speech is not a licence to flout societal norms, while cautioning content creators and politicians for derogatory remarks, directing the CBI to probe 28 cases exposing a nexus between banks and builders that defrauded homebuyers, granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the CBI’s excise policy case, noting that investigative agencies must work to dispel the perception of being “a caged parrot.” and calling for the creation of a legal framework to protect domestic workers, directing the Centre to form an expert committee.
Justice Kant has been part of over 300 benches since his elevation to the apex court. He was also on the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 AMU verdict, reopening the question of the university’s minority status, and on the Pegasus spyware case bench that held the government could not use “national security” as a blanket shield against judicial scrutiny.
Justice Surya Kant’s appointment marks a continuation of judicial reform, constitutional balance, and social justice at the highest level of the Indian judiciary.
