Many key verdicts in CJI-designate Surya Kant's two-decade stint in judiciary

New Delhi: Justice Surya Kant, who is set to take oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India, brings to the top judicial office a wealth of experience spanning two decades on the bench, marked by landmark verdicts and orders on abrogation of Article 370, Bihar electoral roll revision, Pegasus spyware case, corruption and gender equality.

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Monday recommended to the Centre the name of Justice Surya Kant as the next CJI.

Justice Kant, the senior-most judge, is set to become the chief justice of India on November 24 after CJI Gavai's retirement.

He became a top court judge on May 24, 2019, and once appointed, he will have a tenure of nearly 15 months as the CJI till his retirement on February 9, 2027.

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.

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. In 2019, he was appointed a judge in the Supreme Court.

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

Justice Kant 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 ramifications across many 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 of the electoral roll 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 Justice Indu Malhotra to probe the security breach during PM 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.

In another notable case, he upheld the Char Dham project in Uttarakhand, emphasising its strategic importance for national security, while balancing environmental concerns.

His bench observed that “freedom of speech is not a licence to flout societal norms” while cautioning podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia for "derogatory" remarks.

Justice Kant led a bench which pulled up several stand-up comedians, including "India's Got Latent" host Samay Raina, for ridiculing disabled people on their shows and directed the Centre to come up with guidelines for regulating online content.

He also directed the Centre to draft guidelines for online content regulation after comedians were found mocking persons with disabilities.

Holding that freedom of speech is not absolute, Justice Kant led a bench which pulled up Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah for his remarks targeting Col Sofiya Qureshi, who gained nationwide prominence for media briefings on ‘Operation Sindoor’, saying every word uttered by a minister has to be with a sense of responsibility.

He has repeatedly underscored that corruption undermines governance and public trust.

In a 2023 verdict, he called it a “serious societal threat” and ordered the CBI to probe 28 cases exposing an “unholy nexus between banks and developers” that defrauded homebuyers.

He also led a bench that granted bail to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in CBI’s excise policy case, remarking that the agency must work to dispel the notion of being a ‘caged parrot’.

His bench flagged the absence of a legal framework for domestic workers, directing the Centre to form an expert committee to propose protections for this vulnerable workforce.

In another important verdict, he cautioned courts to be “mindful of collateral privacy infringements” when ordering DNA tests in paternity disputes.

He has been part of over 300 benches since his elevation to the Supreme Court, contributing to jurisprudence across criminal, constitutional, and administrative law.

Justice Kant was also on the seven-judge bench that overruled the 1967 AMU verdict, opening the way for reconsideration of its minority status.

He was also part of the bench which in 2021 appointed a 3-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India, saying that the state cannot get a "free pass" every time the spectre of national security is raised and it cannot be the “bugbear” that the judiciary shies away from.

When he assumes office as CJI, he will face the daunting task of addressing a backlog of around 90,000 cases.