SURYA KANT: SUPREME COURT’S NEW CHIEF JUSTICE

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO 53RD CJI: JUSTICE SURYA KANT

• Justice Surya Kant, the most senior Supreme Court judge, is going to assume the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) next month.
• Few know the extraordinary journey that brought him to the nation’s highest judicial position.
• Unlike many who come from families with strong legal background, Justice Kant’s story began in Petwar – a nondescript village in Hisar of Haryana.
• He grew up far from privileges often associated with corridors of power. The first time he saw a city was when he went to Hansi, a small town in Hisar, for his Class X board exam.
• Until Class VIII, he studied in a village school that had no benches.
• As a student, he shared everyday responsibilities of rural life – working in fields during his spare time to support his family like any other rural boy. His father was a teacher.

SURYA KANT, THE FIRST HARYANVI TO BECOME CJI

• On formal confirmation, he will be the first Haryanvi to become the Chief Justice of India.
• He is expected to take over as 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24, and slated to serve until February 9, 2027.
• Those who have worked closely with him described Justice Kant as a jurist of deep learning and measured wisdom, admired for his balanced judgments and unwavering commitment to justice.
• Having served for over 14 years in Punjab and Haryana HC before his promotion as Himachal Pradesh HC Chief Justice and later as SC judge, he has consistently demonstrated a keen sensitivity toward matters concerning protection of public resources, land acquisition and compensation, victims’ rights, reservation policies, and broader balance of constitutional principles.

LOOKING BACK AT JUSTICE KANT’S ACADEMIC BACKGROUND AND WORK-LIFE SO FAR

• Sometime ago, while visiting his alma mater, Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, Justice Kant spoke about his early life and modest beginnings.
• Electricity was a rarity in Petwar, he recalled and fondly remembered studying with friends huddled under the light of dim lamps, driven by hope of securing a government job – a goal, he said, inspired him to persevere through every hardship.
• Born on February 10, 1962, Justice Kant completed his early education from Petwar and LLB in 1984 from MDU.
• He started as a lawyer at Hisar district court before moving to Chandigarh to practice at Punjab and Haryana HC.
• Justice Kant became the youngest advocate general of Haryana at 38.
• In 2004, at the age of 42, he was promoted as a judge of Punjab and Haryana HC.
• Even then, he continued his academic pursuits, securing first-class-first in his master’s degree in law in 2011 from Kurukshetra University’s directorate of distance education.
• After serving as HC judge for over 14 years, he was promoted as Himachal Pradesh HC CJ on October 5, 2018. On May 24, 2019, he became SC judge.
• In his 14-year stint as HC judge in Chandigarh, Justice Kant passed several landmark judgments, including right of jail inmates to have conjugal visits or artificial insemination for progeny.
• He also passed an order in a case where a husband had killed his wife. While punishing the guilty, he noticed the accused had four daughters. He personally spoke with a college principal, requesting free education for the eldest daughter.
• In Punjab and Haryana HC, he was part of the full bench that ordered the sanitization of Dera Sacha Sauda in 2017 following violence after imprisonment of the Dera chief in rape cases and directed a central probe into financial irregularities inside it.
• He served as a member of the National Legal Services Authority from 2007 to 2011.
• In SC, he was part of benches that passed several landmark judgments.
• As CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC, he focused on administrative

WHAT DOES JUSTICE KANT BRING TO THE TABLE?

• Justice Surya Kant brings to the country’s top judicial office a wealth of experience spanning two decades on the bench, marked by landmark verdicts on abrogation of Article 370, free speech, democracy, corruption, environment, and gender equality.
• Justice Surya Kant, hailing from the quaint town of Hisar in Haryana, emerged from humble beginnings to carve an illustrious career in the legal realm.
• He was part of the historic bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new FIRs can be registered under it until a government review.
• Beyond his judicial duties, Justice Kant has been involved in several legal forums and organizations.
• Additionally, his membership in several committees of the Indian Law Institute underscores his dedication to legal scholarship and reform.
• Throughout his career, Justice Kant has been a prominent figure in national and international legal circles, organizing and participating in prestigious conferences that contribute to the discourse on legal matters.

Editor’s Note

• Justice Surya Kant’s rise from a modest village in Hisar to the country’s highest judicial office is not merely a story of personal triumph — it is a reflection of India’s democratic spirit at work. His journey, marked by grit, intellect, and empathy, reminds us that the judiciary’s true strength lies not in lineage or privilege, but in integrity and lived experience. As the 53rd Chief Justice of India, Justice Kant carries with him not only decades of legal wisdom but also an acute awareness of the human condition — born from a life that knew struggle before success. His landmark rulings on equality, free speech, and the right to life reflect a jurist who sees justice not as an abstract ideal, but as a lived reality for every citizen. In an era when institutions are tested by public skepticism and political turbulence, his leadership offers a moment of quiet reassurance — that empathy and reason can still guide the gavel. The story of Justice Surya Kant is more than the making of a Chief Justice; it is a reminder that humility, when paired with vision, can shape the moral compass of a nation.
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