Chief Justice B.R. Gavai on Monday wrote to the Union government recommending Justice Surya Kant, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as his successor and 53rd Chief Justice of India.
Justice Kant is to take over the reins on November 24, a day after Chief Justice Gavai demits office on November 23. Justice Kant will have a tenure of nearly 15 months and will retire on February 9, 2027.
According to the memorandum of understanding, a joint procedure that governs the appointments and transfers of judges, the outgoing CJI recommends the name of his successor to the government to carry forward the legacy of the post.
Among the high-profile cases being handled by Justice Kant are the ongoing Bihar special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the row over the appointment of the vice-chancellors of various Bengal universities, and YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia’s controversial remarks.
Born on February 10, 1962, in Hisar, Haryana, in a middle-class family, Justice Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar, in 1981. He got his bachelor’s degree in law in 1984 from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. He started practising law at the district court in Hisar in 1984. Justice Kant shifted to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice in Punjab and Haryana High Court. Specialised in constitutional, service and civil matters, he had represented universities, boards, corporations, banks and the high court.
Justice Kant had the distinction of being appointed the youngest advocate-general of Haryana on July 7, 2000. He was designated senior advocate in March 2001. Elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Kant is the chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.