New Delhi: Justice Surya Kant, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was on Monday sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI). President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office in Hindi during a brief ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 10 am.
Justice Kant succeeds Justice BR Gavai, who retired on November 23 after serving just over six months. Justice Gavai had recommended Justice Kant as his successor on October 27, and the President appointed him on October 30. Elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Kant will serve as CJI for nearly 15 months, retiring on February 9, 2027.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by top dignitaries including Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, outgoing CJI Gavai, and several sitting and former Supreme Court judges. Chief justices and judges from Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Brazil, and Kenya were also present.
Justice Kant stated that reducing the huge backlog of cases and promoting mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism would be his top priorities. “My foremost agenda is to reduce arrears. Two things are my top priorities: arrears and mediation. With 90,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court, clearing the oldest matters is essential,” he said on November 22.
He emphasized the role of mediation in addressing pendency, calling it a “game changer,” and highlighted plans to set up Constitution Benches to resolve critical constitutional questions, which could help clear hundreds of pending cases in high courts.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar district, Haryana, Justice Kant earned his law degree in 1984 from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and later topped his Master’s program in law in 2011 at Kurukshetra University. At 38, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana in 2000. He was appointed a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004 and became Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2018.
Justice Kant’s career spans over two decades on the bench, with landmark judgments on issues such as the abrogation of Article 370, free speech, democracy, corruption, environment, and gender equality. Traditionally, the CJI recommends the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as a successor, a convention followed in his appointment.
