In a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Surya Kant, formally elevating him as the 53rd Chief Justice of India. He takes over from Justice BR Gavai and is set to remain in the post until February 9, 2027, his retirement date.

A Judicial Career Shaped Across Courts and States

Justice Kant’s legal journey began in Hisar, where he was born on February 10, 1962, and where he completed early studies before earning his law degree from Maharshi Dayanand University in 1984. He entered the profession the same year at the Hisar district court and expanded his practice in Chandigarh from 1985, focusing heavily on constitutional and service matters.

His rise was rapid: in 2000, he became Haryana’s youngest Advocate General, followed by his designation as a senior advocate the next year. His judicial appointments began with the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004, progressing to the role of Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2018. He joined the Supreme Court in May 2019.

Along the way, he pursued higher studies, completing his Master’s in Law from Kurukshetra University in 2011, where he secured the top position in his batch with “first class first”.

Important Verdicts and National Impact

During his tenure in the Supreme Court, Justice Kant participated in several significant benches and authored more than 300 judgments. Among his notable contributions are:

• The Constitution Bench decision upholding the abrogation of Article 370.

• Judgments concerning Section 6A of the Citizenship Act.

• Granting interim bail to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal while holding his arrest lawful.

• A ruling in the presidential reference concerning the timeline for gubernatorial assent on state bills.

He was also central to the court’s move to keep the sedition law in abeyance, instructing authorities not to register new FIRs until the government completes its review.

In another major intervention, he compelled the Election Commission to reveal the status of nearly 65 lakh voters left out of Bihar’s draft rolls during the Special Intensive Revision.

Justice Kant has also ruled on matters touching gender rights and grassroots governance including restoring a woman sarpanch unlawfully removed from office and directing that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the SCBA, be reserved for women lawyers.

His bench upheld the One Rank-One Pension (OROP) scheme as constitutionally sound, and he continues to hear matters concerning the grant of permanent commission to women officers in the armed forces.

Additionally, he took part in the bench that overturned the 1967 AMU judgment, reopening the debate on the university’s minority status.

Role in Investigations and Sensitive Cases

Justice Kant has handled multiple cases involving national security and institutional accountability. In the Pegasus spyware matter, he reiterated that the state cannot seek a “free pass under the guise of national security.” His bench also appointed the committee led by Justice Indu Malhotra to examine the 2022 security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab, observing that such matters require “a judicially trained mind.”

Philosophy and Administrative Agenda as CJI

On the eve of taking charge, Justice Kant outlined his priorities, stressing the need to address the Supreme Court’s mounting docket of nearly 90,000 cases. His immediate focus, he said, is on improving how judicial manpower is deployed and ensuring older cases are taken up swiftly.

He noted that delays in the Supreme Court often hold up cases in lower courts and emphasised the importance of reviving the practice of approaching subordinate courts first.

Reflecting on the values that guide him, he said, “A farmer’s patience taught me that true growth requires time, care and resilience… Justice, like a harvest, cannot be forced; it must be cultivated with diligence and respect for the natural rhythm of due process.”

To this, he added that “a poet’s empathy” enables him to appreciate the human realities beneath the legal issues in each case.

Calling his approach “humanistic,” he stressed the importance of consistency, neutrality and awareness of social context in judicial decision-making. He also underlined the need for robust administrative discipline, noting that courts function as collective institutions requiring efficiency and cohesion.

Mediation and Modernisation as Key Reforms

Justice Kant has placed mediation at the centre of his reform roadmap. He described it as a practical solution with the potential to ease pressure on courts, remarking, “We must identify a solution, and one of the easiest solutions, which can be a game changer, is mediation.”

Technology upgrades, better procedural systems, and improvements in infrastructure are also part of his agenda. He believes even incremental changes such as stronger process guidelines and digital integration can bring transformative benefits.

As the Executive Chairman of NALSA, Justice Kant recently launched the Veer Parivar Sahayata Yojana 2025, which provides free legal support to soldiers, veterans and their families.