Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on Monday by President Droupadi Murmu. The ceremony was attended by the Vice-President, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and several ministers, showing how important this moment is for the country.
His appointment is being praised as an inspiring journey — from growing up in a small village in Haryana to becoming the head of India’s judiciary.
In the Supreme Court, Justice Surya Kant was involved in several major cases. He worked on important decisions related to removing Article 370, checking the voter list issues in Bihar, and examining the Pegasus spyware case. These judgments have had a big impact on India’s democracy and legal system.
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Here's the list of CJIS served before
CJI Harilal Jekisundas Kania served from 26 Jan 1950 to 6 Nov 1951.
CJI M. Patanjali Sastri served from 7 Nov 1951 to 3 Jan 1954.
CJI Mehr Chand Mahajan served from 4 Jan 1954 to 22 Dec 1954.
CJI Bijan Kumar Mukherjea served from 23 Dec 1954 to 31 Jan 1956.
CJI Sudhi Ranjan Das served from 1 Feb 1956 to 30 Sept 1959.
CJI Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha served from 1 Oct 1959 to 31 Jan 1964.
CJI P. B. Gajendragadkar served from 1 Feb 1964 to 15 Mar 1966.
CJI A. K. Sarkar served from 16 Mar 1966 to 29 Jun 1966.
CJI Koka Subba Rao served from 30 Jun 1966 to 11 Apr 1967.
CJI Kailas Nath Wanchoo served from 12 Apr 1967 to 24 Feb 1968.
CJI Mohammad Hidayatullah served from 25 Feb 1968 to 16 Dec 1970.
CJI Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah served from 17 Dec 1970 to 21 Jan 1971.
CJI S. M. Sikri served from 22 Jan 1971 to 25 Apr 1973.
CJI A. N. Ray served from 26 Apr 1973 to 27 Jan 1977.
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CJI Mirza Hameedullah Beg served from 28 Jan 1977 to 21 Feb 1978.
CJI Y. V. Chandrachud served from 22 Feb 1978 to 11 Jul 1985.
CJI P. N. Bhagwati served from 12 Jul 1985 to 20 Dec 1986.
CJI R. S. Pathak served from 21 Dec 1986 to 18 June 1989.
CJI E. S. Venkataramiah served from 19 June 1989 to 17 Dec 1989.
CJI S. P. Bharucha served from 18 Dec 1989 to 17 Dec 1991.
CJI Kamal Narain Singh served from 25 November 1991 to 12 December 1991.
CJI M. H. Kania served from 13 December 1991 to 17 November 1992.
CJI L. M. Sharma served from 18 November 1992 to 11 February 1993.
CJI M. N. Venkatachaliah served from 12 February 1993 to 24 October 1994.
CJI A. M. Ahmadi served from 25 October 1994 to 24 March 1997.
CJI J. S. Verma served from 25 March 1997 to 24 January 1998.
CJI M. M. Punchhi served from 25 January 1998 to 9 October 1998.
CJI Adarsh Sein Anand served from 10 October 1998 to 1 November 2001.
CJI S. P. Bharucha served from 2 November 2001 to 6 May 2002.
CJI B. N. Kirpal served from 7 May 2002 to 18 November 2002.
CJI G. B. Pattanaik served from 19 November 2002 to 18 December 2002.
CJI V. N. Khare served from 19 December 2002 to 2 May 2004.
CJI Ramesh Chandra Lahoti served from 1 June 2004 to 31 October 2005.
CJI Y. K. Sabharwal served from 1 November 2005 to 12 January 2007.
CJI K. G. Balakrishnan served from 13 January 2007 to 11 May 2010.
CJI S. H. Kapadia served from 12 May 2010 to 28 September 2012.
CJI Altamas Kabir served from 29 September 2012 to 18 July 2013.
CJI P. Sathasivam served from 19 July 2013 to 26 April 2014.
CJI R. M. Lodha served from 27 April 2014 to 27 September 2014.
CJI H. L. Dattu served from 28 September 2014 to 2 December 2015.
CJI T. S. Thakur served from 3 January 2017 to 2 November 2018.
CJI Dipak Misra served from 3 October 2018 to 2 October 2019.
CJI Ranjan Gogoi served from 3 October 2019 to 17 November 2019.
CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde served from 18 November 2019 to 26 April 2021.
CJI N. V. Ramana served from 27 April 2021 to 26 August 2022.
CJI Uday Umesh Lalit served from 27 August 2022 to 8 November 2022.
CJI Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud served from 9 Nov 2022 to 10 Nov 2024.
CJI Sanjiv Khanna served from 11 Nov 2024 to 13 May 2025.
CJI Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai started on 14 May 2025.
CJI Surya Kant took office on 24 Nov 2025.
