Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai has recommended the name of Justice Surya Kant to the Centre for appointment as the next CJI.
Justice Surya Kant, currently the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after CJI Gavai, is slated to assume office as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24, following CJI Gavai’s retirement on November 23.
According to PTI sources, CJI Gavai, who took oath on May 14 this year, made the recommendation to the Union Law Ministry for Justice Surya Kant’s appointment.
Justice Surya Kant was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. As Chief Justice, he will have a tenure of over 1.2 years and is set to retire on February 9, 2027. The retirement age for Supreme Court judges is 65 years.
He brings to the country’s top judicial office over two decades of experience on the bench, marked by significant rulings on Article 370, free speech, democracy, corruption, the environment, and gender equality.
Justice Surya Kant was part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new FIRs be registered under it until the government completed its review.
In a move to ensure transparency in elections, he urged the Election Commission to disclose details of 65 lakh names excluded from the draft electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar.
He also directed that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women.
Justice Surya Kant upheld the One Rank-One Pension (OROP) scheme for defence personnel, declaring it constitutionally valid, and continues to hear petitions by women officers in the armed forces seeking parity in permanent commission.
He was on the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 Aligarh Muslim University judgment, paving the way for reconsideration of the institution’s minority status.
Justice Surya Kant was also part of the bench that dealt with the Pegasus spyware case, which appointed a panel of cyber experts to investigate allegations of unlawful surveillance, remarking that the state cannot be given a “free pass under the guise of national security.”
He further served on the bench that appointed a five-member committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra to probe the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2022 Punjab visit, noting that such matters required “a judicially trained mind.”
With inputs from PTI
Justice Surya Kant, currently the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after CJI Gavai, is slated to assume office as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24, following CJI Gavai’s retirement on November 23.
According to PTI sources, CJI Gavai, who took oath on May 14 this year, made the recommendation to the Union Law Ministry for Justice Surya Kant’s appointment.
Justice Surya Kant was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. As Chief Justice, he will have a tenure of over 1.2 years and is set to retire on February 9, 2027. The retirement age for Supreme Court judges is 65 years.
Know more about the next CJI
Justice Surya Kant, born on February 10, 1962, in Haryana’s Hisar district to a middle-class family, became a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.He brings to the country’s top judicial office over two decades of experience on the bench, marked by significant rulings on Article 370, free speech, democracy, corruption, the environment, and gender equality.
Justice Surya Kant was part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new FIRs be registered under it until the government completed its review.
In a move to ensure transparency in elections, he urged the Election Commission to disclose details of 65 lakh names excluded from the draft electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar.
He also directed that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women.
Justice Surya Kant upheld the One Rank-One Pension (OROP) scheme for defence personnel, declaring it constitutionally valid, and continues to hear petitions by women officers in the armed forces seeking parity in permanent commission.
He was on the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 Aligarh Muslim University judgment, paving the way for reconsideration of the institution’s minority status.
Justice Surya Kant was also part of the bench that dealt with the Pegasus spyware case, which appointed a panel of cyber experts to investigate allegations of unlawful surveillance, remarking that the state cannot be given a “free pass under the guise of national security.”
He further served on the bench that appointed a five-member committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra to probe the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2022 Punjab visit, noting that such matters required “a judicially trained mind.”
With inputs from PTI
