Justice Suryakant takes oath as 53-rd Chief Justice of India
Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Monday morning by President Droupadi Murmu, marking the culmination of a journey from the fields of a village in Haryana to the country’s highest judicial office.
Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several ministers from his cabinet attended the swearing-in.
Over his tenure in the Supreme Court, Justice Kant has been associated with a series of significant constitutional rulings, including those on the abrogation of Article 370, the revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls and the Pegasus spyware case.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Petwar village in the Narnaud region of Hisar, Justice Kant studied at local village schools before earning his degree in law from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984.
He began his legal practice at the Hisar district court the same year and later shifted to Chandigarh, where he built a thriving practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, specialising in constitutional, service and civil law.
Three decades later, while serving as a judge, he obtained a master’s degree in law from Kurukshetra University with first-class first.
His rise in the legal profession was swift. At 38, he became the youngest advocate general of Haryana in 2000, was designated a senior advocate the following year, and was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004.
In October 2018, he took charge as chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court before his elevation to the Supreme Court in May 2019.
Over the past six years in the top court, Justice Kant has authored more than 300 judgments, including in several high-profile constitutional matters.