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Informist, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025

 

--President appoints Surya Kant as Chief Justice of India from Nov 24

 

NEW DELHI – President Droupadi Murmu Thursday appointed Justice Surya Kant as the 53rd Chief Justice of India with effect from Nov. 24. The current Chief Justice B.R. Gavai will retire on Nov. 23 after a tenure of about five months. 

 

Justice Kant was on the bench that upheld the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which removed the special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Justice Kant, in his judgment, had affirmed the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955. Section 6A established Mar. 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for entry into Assam, essentially meaning that those who entered the state after that would be considered illegal immigrants. 

 

Further, Justice Kant had ruled that the one-rank-one-pension scheme for armed forces was constitutionally valid. In 2021, he was part of the bench that appointed experts to investigate the alleged use of Pegasus spyware, stating national security cannot be used to avoid accountability. He was on the bench that granted bail to former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy case, emphasising the need for investigative agencies to be seen as independent.

 

Justice Kant began his practice at a district court in Hisar, Haryana, in 1984. Thereafter, he shifted to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Kant had specialised in constitutional, service and civil matters. He has represented a number of universities, boards, corporations, banks, as well as the high court itself. 

 

He earned the distinction of being appointed as the youngest advocate general of Haryana in 2000. He was designated as a senior advocate in 2001. He held the office of Advocate General, Haryana, till his elevation as a permanent judge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004.  

 

Justice Kant was nominated as a member of the governing body of National Legal Services Authority in 2007 for two consecutive terms till 2011. He is also a member of various committees of the Indian Law Institute, which is a deemed university under the aegis of the Supreme Court.  

 

He had assumed the charge of the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh with effect from 2018. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2019 and is due to retire on Feb. 9, 2027.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury 

 

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