The North News
New Delhi, October 27
Chief Justice of India, B. R. Gavai, has recommended Justice Surya Kant—the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court—for appointment as his successor. Justice Surya Kant, born on 10 February 1962 in Hisar, Haryana, comes from a middle-class family. He graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar, in 1981 and obtained his law degree from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, in 1984.
He began his legal career the same year at the District Court in Hisar before moving to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Over the years, he specialised in constitutional, service and civil matters, representing universities, corporations, banks and even the High Court itself.
In July 2000, he became the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was designated as Senior Advocate the following year. He was elevated as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2004.
Justice Surya Kant also served two terms as a member of the National Legal Services Authority governing body and has been associated with several committees of the Indian Law Institute. In 2011, he secured a first-class first position in his Master’s degree in Law from Kurukshetra University.
He took charge as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in October 2018 and was elevated to the Supreme Court in May 2019. In November 2024, he became Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. Justice Surya Kant is due to retire on February 9, 2027.
