Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on the morning of November 24, 2025, in a solemn ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan administered by President Droupadi Murmu. The 63-year-old judge, who succeeds Justice Sanjiv Khanna upon his retirement, took the oath in the name of God while pledging to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land. The event was attended by Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, senior judges, and members of the legal fraternity.

Born in the small village of Petwar in Haryana’s Hisar district in 1962, Justice Kant rose from humble rural beginnings to the apex of India’s judiciary. After completing his law degree from Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, he began practicing at the district courts before becoming the youngest Advocate General of Haryana at 38. Elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004, he later served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court before his appointment to the Supreme Court in May 2019. Over the past six years, he has authored more than 300 judgments and participated in landmark Constitution bench decisions, including those upholding the abrogation of Article 370, validating Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, and granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money-laundering case.

Taking charge at a time when the Supreme Court faces a backlog of nearly 90,000 cases, Justice Kant has identified pendency reduction as his foremost administrative priority. In a pre-oath interview, he stressed the need for optimum utilization of judicial time, swift constitution of benches for long-pending matters, and encouraging litigants to approach lower courts first where appropriate. He also highlighted mediation as a “game changer,” urging greater adoption by government agencies to ease the burden on courts.

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Known for blending rigorous legal reasoning with what he calls “a farmer’s patience and a poet’s empathy,” Justice Kant emphasized that justice must respect both the letter of the law and the human stories behind every case. His tenure, which will last until February 8, 2027, is expected to focus on institutional discipline, technological integration, infrastructure upgrades, and restoring public faith in the judiciary through consistent and efficient delivery of justice. As executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority, he recently launched the Veer Parivar Sahayata Yojana 2025 to provide free legal aid to armed forces personnel and their families, reflecting his commitment to accessible justice for all sections of society.

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