Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 30: The Central government on Thursday approved the appointment of Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). He will take charge on November 24, 2025, following the retirement of incumbent CJI Justice Bhushan R. Gavai.
A notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice stated, “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Surya Kant, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24, 2025.”
Justice Gavai, who currently heads the Supreme Court, will demit office on November 23 upon reaching the retirement age of 65. As per the established convention, he recommended the name of the senior-most Supreme Court judge, Justice Surya Kant, as his successor.
Justice Surya Kant will become the 53rd Chief Justice of India, serving a tenure of about 14 months before retiring on February 9, 2027.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Haryana, Justice Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar, in 1981 and obtained his law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984. He began his legal career in Hisar before moving to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where he handled numerous constitutional, civil, and service-related cases.
He was appointed as Haryana’s youngest Advocate General on July 7, 2000, and designated as a senior advocate in March 2001. Justice Kant was elevated as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2004 and later served as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court from October 2018 until his elevation to the Supreme Court in May 2019.
Beyond his judicial responsibilities, Justice Kant has actively contributed to the legal and judicial ecosystem. He has served two terms on the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) between 2007 and 2011 and remains associated with several committees of the Indian Law Institute. Since November 2024, he has also been the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.