Justice Surya Kant to take oath as 53rd CJI of India on Monday

Justice Surya Kant, who has been part of several landmark verdicts and orders on abrogation of Article 370 removing Jammu and Kashmir's special status, Bihar electoral rolls revision and Pegasus spyware case, will on Monday take oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India.

He will succeed Justice B R Gavai, who demitted office on November 23.

Justice Kant was appointed as the next CJI on October 30 and will remain in the post for nearly 15 months. He will demit office on February 9, 2027 on attaining the age of 65 years.

Born on February 10, 1962 in Hisar district of Haryana to a middle-class family, Justice Kant went from being a small-town lawyer to the country’s highest judicial office, where he has been part of several verdicts and orders of national importance and constitutional matters. He also has the distinction of standing 'first class first' in his Master’s degree in law in 2011 from Kurukshetra University.

Notable Judgments

Justice Kant, who penned several notable judgments in the Punjab and Haryana HC, was appointed the chief justice of Himachal Pradesh HC on October 5, 2018.

His tenure as an SC judge is marked by verdicts on the abrogation of Article 370, free speech and citizenship rights.

The judge was part of the recent presidential reference on the powers of the Governor and President in dealing with bills passed by a state assembly. The verdict is keenly awaited with potential ramifications across states.

He was part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new FIRs be registered under it until a government review.

Justice Kant 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 poll-bound state.

In an order that emphasised grassroots democracy and gender justice, he led a bench that reinstated a woman sarpanch 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.

Justice Kant was part of the bench that appointed a five-member committee headed by former top court judge Justice Indu Malhotra to probe the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab in 2022, saying such matters required “a judicially trained mind”.

He also upheld the One Rank-One Pension scheme for defence forces, calling it constitutionally valid, and continues to hear petitions of women officers in the armed forces seeking parity in permanent commission.

Justice Kant was on the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 Aligarh Muslim University judgment, opening the way for reconsideration of the institution's minority status.

He was also part of the bench which heard the Pegasus spyware case and which appointed a panel of cyber experts to probe allegations of unlawful surveillance, famously stating that the state cannot get a "free pass under the guise of national security".

According to details of his assets listed on the Supreme Court's website, Justice Surya Kant has Rs 4,11,22,395, including interest, in 16 FDRs. He also has 15 FDRs (Hindu Undivided Family), totalling Rs 1,92,24,317. His wife has six FDRs totalling Rs 1,96,98,377, including interest.

In terms of movable assets, Justice Surya Kant has gold ornaments weighing about 100 grams, and three "valuable watches". His wife has gold ornaments (including Streedhan) of around 1,000 grams and silver valuables weighing around 6 kg.

The judge's immovable property holdings include one kanal house in Sector 10, Chandigarh, that is also owned by his spouse and the HUF. An agricultural land of 13.5 acres at Golpura village in Panchkula district of Haryana, a 300-square-yard plot in Sushant Lok-1, Gurugram, and a 192-square-yard house in Sector 18-C, Chandigarh.

His residential properties include a ground floor and basement in a 285-square-yard house (co-owned with spouse) at Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi, and of 192 square yards in Sector 18-C, Chandigarh. Their two daughters also own assets, including 100 grams of gold each.

Their elder daughter holds eight FDRs totalling Rs 34,22,347, and the younger daughter holds seven FDRs amounting to Rs 25,20,665.

With PTI inputs