- Justice Surya Kant told NDTV that he never thought he would become the Chief Justice Of India
- He grew up in a small village in Haryana with limited resources and studied in a small room with classmates
- Justice Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on Monday
Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of India, making him the first person from Haryana to reach the country's highest judicial office since the Supreme Court was inaugurated in 1950.
Chief Justice Kant, who started practicing law as a small-town lawyer, spoke to NDTV's Ashish Bhargava from his childhood home in Petwar in Haryana's Hisar and reflected upon his distinguished four-decade career.
"All my childhood memories are connected to this house. I was born here," he said while sitting on a 'khatiya', a traditional bed in villages.
Chief Justice Kant, who was born on February 10, 1962, to a middle-class family, said he must have been four years old when his parents sent him to a school in the village.
"We used to walk from this house through these streets to the village school with the schoolbag in our hands. All my childhood games and studies are connected to this village and the nearby areas," he said.
He also showed NDTV his study room, which was about 6 by 8 feet, and said that he studied there with three of his classmates.
"Our teachers had a hope that all four of us would be able to perform well in school. So, we were always encouraged to study together at night," the 53rd Chief Justice of India said.
"And it (the study) didn't just happen in this small room. Before the exam, we had a very dedicated English teacher, Prem Singh, who told us to shift to the school building. So, we used to have food from home and go to school at night. And that teacher used to teach us different subjects till 11 or 12 at night. And then we used to wake up in the morning, get ready and go to school again," he recalled.
He said that his village had a power connection, but the supply was very low.
"So, we never depended on electricity to study. We used to have the clay lamps," he added.
Asked if he ever thought he would become the Chief Justice of India after growing up in a village and harvesting crops, he said, "No, definitely not."
"At that time, I didn't even know what the judiciary was and what the role of a judge was in it. It was a time of struggle for every child in the village, including me," the first-generation lawyer said, adding that usually, in a village, everyone's family was interested in getting their child a job after they had passed the matriculation exam.
"And if you have gone to college by mistake, then there is no point in doing anything else after college. You must try for a job. I also faced a similar situation. And I would like to thank my parents for this. When I told them that I wanted to study further, they agreed to what I said," he said.
There, however, was a "dilemma" in the house as to what he should study, he said.
"My brothers wanted me to do an MA in Geography, because that was my subject. But I was determined to do law. So, my parents stood by me and told me to do whatever I wanted," Chief Justice Surya Kant, who got his bachelor's degree in law from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984, said.
Talking about his "professional struggle", he said he started practicing in a district court in Hisar.
"And after four to five months of practice, I argued my senior's case in the district court. My senior said, 'It is a small case; you can argue it'. He had confidence in me. He was a great inspiration for me. And he also played a key role in my career," he said.
"So, when I argued the case, the judge called every senior advocate of the district and said, 'Don't ruin this boy here. Inspire him to go to the high court'," he recalled.
"I didn't know anyone in the high court. So, my senior and other senior advocates said, 'We will take you to the high court'. A senior advocate then took me in his car to Chandigarh and dropped me at a senior advocate's house," Justice Kant, who shifted to Chandigarh in 1985, said, adding that it was the blessing of his parents, his teachers and the elders of his village.
"I earned my name in the profession very soon. And after five to six years of practice, the whole state knew that I was a successful lawyer. And then, the story of my struggle to success started," Justice Kant, who earned the distinction of being appointed the youngest Advocate General of Haryana in July, 2000, said.
Justice Surya Kant's Rise From Judge To Chief Justice Of India
Justice Surya Kant was appointed the chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2018. A year later, he was elevated as a Supreme Court judge.
The Chief Justice, who has succeeded Justice BR Gavai, has been part of various landmark verdicts, including the recent presidential reference on the powers of the governor and president in dealing with bills passed by a state assembly.
He was also part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new cases be registered under it until a government review.
He also nudged the Election Commission to disclose the details of 65 lakh voters excluded from the draft electoral rolls in Bihar while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel's decision to undertake Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters list in the state, where the assembly elections were held recently.
Chief Justice Kant also led a bench that reinstated a woman sarpanch (village head) unlawfully removed from office and called out the gender bias in the matter. He is also credited with directing that one-third of seats in bar associations, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women.
