Guwahati: Justice Surya Kant, a Supreme Court judge recognised for his role in several landmark constitutional verdicts, will be sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Monday. He will take over from Justice B. R. Gavai, who retires on Sunday evening.
Appointed as the next CJI on October 30, Justice Kant will serve a tenure of nearly 15 months and will retire on February 9, 2027, upon turning 65. His judicial career at the Supreme Court has seen his participation in several historic decisions involving Article 370, free speech, and citizenship rights.
Justice Kant was also part of the Constitution Bench that recently heard the presidential reference on the powers of Governors and the President in dealing with state assembly bills — a much-anticipated verdict with significant national implications. He was among the judges who placed the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new FIRs be filed until the Centre completes its review.
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Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar, Haryana, Justice Kant’s journey from a small-town lawyer to the country’s top judicial office has been defined by a series of influential rulings. Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, he served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and earlier delivered several notable judgments at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, including on gender equity and women’s representation in bar associations.
Justice Kant also upheld the One Rank-One Pension scheme as constitutionally valid, served on the seven-judge bench that overturned the 1967 AMU ruling, and was part of the bench that heard the Pegasus surveillance case, reinforcing the limits of state power under the claim of national security.
