Justice Surya Kant takes oath as 53rd Chief Justice of India

Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on Monday, succeeding Justice BR Gavai, marking the beginning of his nearly 15-month tenure. President Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice Surya Kant at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Justice Kant was born on 10 February 1962 in Hisar, Haryana. From 1984, he started practicing as an advocate in Hisar district court and in 1985, he shifted to Chandigarh to practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Specializing in constitutional, service and civil matters, he has represented numerous universities, Boards, Corporations, Banks as well as the Supreme Court.

He was Haryana’s youngest appointed Solicitor General on July 7, 2000 and was appointed Senior Advocate in March next year. He served as Solicitor General until he was elevated as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004. After 15 years, on May 24, 2019, Justice Surya Kant was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.

He has been a two-term member of the Board of Directors of the National Legal Services Authority and is currently a member of various Committees of the Indian Institute of Law, a university deemed under the aegis of the Supreme Court.

He graduated from Government Postgraduate College in 1981, received his bachelor’s degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, La in 1984.

Judge Kant has been focusing on reducing the flow of major cases across the country during his tenure.

While addressing a group of legal journalists at his official residence in Delhi before taking over as the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the judge spoke about his priorities before assuming the responsibility of India’s highest judicial office.

He also described mediation, an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, as a “game changer” capable of providing litigants with faster resolution out of court.

He said that delayed cases (pending cases) should be addressed both at the individual court level and on a pan-India basis. He stated that he had already addressed this issue. He explained that one of the biggest challenges was the overlap of topics.
“Thousands of issues have been postponed while we await the decisions of these larger benches,” he said.

As a result, the High Courts and District Courts are also stuck with many unresolved legal issues, he noted.

Once those complexities are resolved, next steps can come, he said.

Notably, the swearing-in ceremony of CJI Surya Kant was attended by a large number of chief justices from other countries and a large number of other foreign guests; this was the largest such delegation to witness the swearing-in ceremony of a CJI from India.

Dignitaries from Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Kenya and Sri Lanka attended the ceremony.

Chief Justice P Padman Surasena of Sri Lanka; his wife Sepalika Surasena; Supreme Court Justice S Thurairaja attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut of Nepal; Supreme Court judge Sapana Pradhan Malla; her husband Ashok Bahadur Malla; Anil Kumar Sinha, Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Nepal; and his wife Ursila Sinha were present.

Chief Justice of Mauritius, Justice Bibi Rehana Mungly-Gulbul; and Rebecca Hanna Bibi Gulbul, daughter of the CJI of Mauritius, were among those present.

From Malaysia, Judge Tan Sri Datuk Nalini Pathmanathan of the Federal Court of Malaysia; and his wife Pasupathy Sivapragasam are also set to attend.

Chief Justice and Chief Justice Martha Koome from Kenya and SC judge Justice Susan Njoki Ndungu attended.

Chief Justice Lyonpo Norbu Tshering of Bhutan and his wife Lhaden Lotay were also present.

Justice Surya Kant will serve for approximately 15 months as he will retire on February 9, 2027.

(This story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)