NEW DELHI– The central government has approved the appointment of Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant as the next Chief Justice of India, succeeding Chief Justice Bhushan R. Gavai upon his retirement next month.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Surya Kant, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24, 2025,” stated a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on Thursday.
Justice Gavai will retire on November 23 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65. Following established convention, he recommended Justice Kant—currently the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court—as his successor.
Justice Kant will become the 53rd Chief Justice of India and is expected to serve for about 14 months, until February 9, 2027.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Haryana, Justice Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College in Hisar in 1981 and earned his law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984. He began practicing law in Hisar the same year and later moved to Chandigarh to practice before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Throughout his legal career, Justice Kant handled a wide range of constitutional, service, and civil matters, representing universities, corporations, banks, and the High Court itself.
In 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was designated a senior advocate the following year. He was elevated to the bench as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2004 and later served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court from October 2018 until his elevation to the Supreme Court in May 2019.
Justice Kant has also contributed significantly to the judicial and legal framework through his involvement with key institutions. He served on the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) between 2007 and 2011 and is currently a member of several committees of the Indian Law Institute. Since November 2024, he has chaired the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. (Source: IANS)
