NEW DELHI: Justice Surya Kant has been appointed as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI). He will assume office on November 24, 2025, succeeding Justice B.R. Gavai, who retires on November 23. Justice Kant will serve as CJI for nearly 16 months, until February 9, 2027.

The Department of Justice, under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, issued the official notification of his appointment.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Surya Kant, Judge of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24, 2025,” Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced on X (formerly Twitter). “I convey my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to him,” he added.

According to a communiqué from the Press Information Bureau, Justice Surya Kant was born on February 10, 1962, in Petwar village, Hisar district, Haryana. He obtained his law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984, and began his legal practice the same year at the District Courts in Hisar.

In 1985, he shifted his practice to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh, specialising in constitutional, service, and civil matters. On July 7, 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was also designated as a Senior Advocate. He served as Advocate General until his elevation as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004.

As a judge, Justice Kant served on the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, he obtained a Master’s degree in Law with First Class First honours. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on October 5, 2018, and elevated to the Supreme Court of India on May 24, 2019.

Since May 14, 2025, Justice Kant has been serving as the Executive Chairman of NALSA and is also a member of several committees of the Indian Law Institute.