Justice Surya Kant New Chief Justice Of India, To Take Charge On November 24

Justice Surya Kant was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India late Thursday and will take charge on November 24. He succeeds Chief Justice BR Gavai to the highest judicial post in the country.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal confirmed the appointment.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Justice Surya Kant, Judge of the Supreme Court of India as the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24…" he said on X. "I convey my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to him."

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 of India as the Chief Justice of India with effect from 24th November, 2025.

I convey my heartiest congratulations and best… pic.twitter.com/3X0XFd1Uc9

— Arjun Ram Meghwal (@arjunrammeghwal) October 30, 2025

Justice Surya Kant, elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, will become the 53rd Chief Justice of the country. He will have a tenure of 14 months and is due to retire on February 9, 2027.

The retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65.

Born February 10, 1962, in Haryana's Hisar district, Justice Surya Kant brings two decades of legal experience marked by landmark verdicts that include the scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and notable rulings on free speech, democracy, corruption, the environment, and gender equality.

READ | All About Justice Surya Kant, Set To Take Over As Country's Top Judge

He was part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new police cases be registered under it until a government review. And, in an order that underlined transparency in the electoral process, he nudged the Election Commission to disclose details of 65 lakh names excluded from the draft electoral rolls after the contentious special revision of voter lists.

He is also credited with directing that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women, and upheld One Rank-One Pension for the military, calling it constitutionally valid, and hears petitions of women seeking parity in permanent commissions.

Finally, Justice Surya Kant was part of the bench that heard the Pegasus spyware case, which appointed a panel of cyber experts to probe allegations of unlawful surveillance.

In that case he famously said the state cannot get a "free pass under the guise of national security".

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