Justice Surya Kant Sworn In as the 53rd Chief Justice of India

Justice Surya Kant today took oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath, which was taken in Hindi by Justice Kant. As the CJI, Justice Kant will have a tenure till February 9, 2027.

Dignitaries in Attendance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, former CJ BR Gavai, former President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, HD Kumaraswamy, Piyush Goel, JP Nadda, former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, etc, were also there.

Justice Surya Kant: Background and Early Career

Justice Surya Kant was born on 10 February 1962 in the village Petwar, District Hisar, Haryana. He earned his Law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984 and then began his practice the same year at the District Courts, Hisar.

In 1985, he shifted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, specialising in Constitutional, Service, and Civil matters. On 7 July 2000, he earned the distinction of being appointed the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was also designated as a Senior Advocate.

He served as the Advocate General until his elevation as a permanent Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 9 January 2004.

Judicial Career

As a Judge, he served on the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) from 2007 to 2011 and later earned a First Class First in his Master's degree in Law in 2011.

He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on 5 October, 2018 and thereafter was elevated to the Supreme Court of India on 24 May, 2019.

Since 14 May, 2025, he has been the Executive Chairman of NALSA and also serves on several committees of the Indian Law Institute.