Justice Surya Kant will take oath tomorrow, November 24, as the 53rd Chief Justice of India. He has been a crucial part of several landmark rulings, including the abolishment of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the intensive revision of Bihar’s electoral roll, and the Pegasus spyware surveillance case. Justice Surya Kant will succeed Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, whose tenure ends today. He was appointed to the post on October 30 and will serve for nearly 15 months until his retirement on February 9, 2027, when he turns sixty-five.
Born on February 10, 1962, in a middle-class family in Hisar district of Haryana, Justice Surya Kant’s journey from a small-town lawyer to the highest judicial office reflects his long and influential legal career. Over the years, he has played an important role in constitutional matters and cases of national importance. He secured first rank in the first division in his postgraduate law degree from Kurukshetra University in 2011. After delivering numerous notable judgments in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he took charge as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on October 5, 2018.
As a Supreme Court judge, he has been associated with crucial decisions concerning Article 370, freedom of speech, and citizenship rights. He is currently part of the bench examining a presidential reference linked to the powers of governors and the President over bills passed by state legislatures, a verdict that may impact governance across the country. He was also on the bench that paused the colonial-era sedition law and directed that no fresh FIRs be registered under it until the government completes its review, marking a significant shift in the judicial approach to free expression.
Justice Surya Kant has consistently advocated for gender equality and grassroots democracy. He instructed the Election Commission to publicly disclose details of 65 lakh voters excluded from Bihar’s draft electoral rolls while hearing petitions challenging the commission’s Special Intensive Revision in the poll-bound state. He led a bench that reinstated a female sarpanch who was removed unlawfully and highlighted gender bias in the case. He is further credited with directing that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women to ensure greater representation in the legal fraternity.
Over the years, he has played a key role in several high-profile inquiries and influential rulings. Justice Surya Kant was part of the bench that appointed a five-member panel led by former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra to probe the 2022 security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Punjab visit. He upheld the constitutionality of the One Rank One Pension policy for defence personnel and continued hearings on petitions filed by women officers seeking permanent commission in the armed forces. He also sat on the seven-judge bench that overturned the 1967 AMU verdict, reopening the debate on the university’s minority status, and on the bench that formed a committee of cyber experts to investigate the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance.