New Delhi, Oct 24 — With Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud set to retire on November 23, the Centre has initiated the process to appoint his successor, writing to the CJI to recommend the next head of the judiciary, officials said on Thursday.
In line with convention, CJI Gavai is expected to recommend Justice Surya Kant, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor. Once appointed, Justice Kant will become the 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24 and will hold office until February 9, 2027.
Under the Memorandum of Procedure governing judicial appointments, the senior-most judge considered fit to hold office is recommended as the next CJI. The practice has been followed consistently, except on two occasions — in 1973, when Justice A.N. Ray superseded three senior judges, and in 1977, when Justice M.H. Beg superseded Justice H.R. Khanna.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar district of Haryana, Justice Surya Kant graduated in law from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984. He was appointed Advocate General of Haryana in 2000, becoming the youngest to hold the post at age 38.
Justice Kant began his judicial career as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004, later serving as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court from October 2018 until his elevation to the Supreme Court in May 2019.
During his tenure on the apex court, Justice Kant has delivered key judgments on issues of constitutional law, free speech, democracy, corruption, environment, and gender equality. He was part of the Bench that put the colonial-era sedition law on hold, pending government review, and upheld the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for defence personnel as constitutionally valid.
Justice Kant also headed the Bench that directed the Election Commission to disclose details of 65 lakh excluded voters in Bihar and mandated one-third reservation for women in Bar associations. He was part of the Pegasus spyware case Bench that appointed an expert committee, observing that the state cannot get a “free pass under the guise of national security.”
He also played a role in high-profile cases such as the 2022 Punjab security breach during the Prime Minister’s visit and the farmers’ blockade at the Shambhu border near Ambala. Recently, he was among the seven-judge Bench that restored minority status to Aligarh Muslim University, overturning a 1967 ruling.
Justice Kant’s elevation marks continuity in the seniority principle that has defined judicial appointments for decades, reinforcing institutional stability at the top of the judiciary.
