Justice Surya Kant sworn in as 53rd Chief Justice of India

Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd person by President Droupadi Murmu.^third Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, November 24, 2025. By taking the oath of office, he pledged in Hindi to uphold the Constitution and faithfully discharge his duties.

Chief Justice Kant’s term as chief justice is just over a year. He retired on February 9, 2027. He was appointed to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.

Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar in Haryana, Kant graduated from his hometown and earned a bachelor’s degree in Law from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984. He started his legal career in Hisar district court and shifted to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Kant was involved in many influential judgments of the apex court, including the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which abolished the special status of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. Judge Kant was also part of the Panel that found the electoral bond bill unconstitutional. He was a member of the Benches that reviewed the Pegasus spyware case and the suspension of the sedition law.

He became the youngest Attorney General of Haryana on 7 July 2000 and was appointed senior advocate in March 2001. He was elevated as a judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004. Justice Kant was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in October 2018.