Justice Surya Kant Sworn in as 53rd Chief Justice of India, Pledges To Tackle Massive Case Backlog in His 14-month Tenure

Moneylife Digital Team 24 November 2025

Economy & Nation

Justice Surya Kant on Monday took oath as the 53rd chief justice of India (CJI), succeeding justice BR Gavai, who demitted office on Sunday on attaining the age of 65. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi, vice-president CP Radhakrishnan, senior judges of the Supreme Court and chief justices and judges from Bhutan, Kenya, Malaysia, Brazil, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Justice Kant took the oath in Hindi in the name of God.

Appointed as the next CJI on 30 October 2025, justice Kant begins a relatively long tenure of around 14 to 15 months and will remain in office until 9 February 2027, when he turns 65. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on 24 May 2019, after serving as the chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court (HC).

Born on 10 February 1962, in a middle-class family in Haryana, justice Kant began his legal practice in Hisar in 1984 before moving to Chandigarh to appear before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Over the years, he handled a wide range of constitutional, service and civil matters, representing universities, boards, corporations, banks and even the high court. He was appointed the youngest advocate general of Haryana in 2000 and designated a senior advocate the following year. He became a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004.

Justice Surya Kant has been part of several landmark verdicts, including the judgement upholding the abrogation of Article 370, which removed Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Since November 2024, he has been serving as chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.

Speaking to the media ahead of taking charge, justice Kant says that reducing the pendency of cases in the Supreme Court and courts across the country would be his foremost priority. Indian courts currently face a backlog of 52.9mn (million) pending cases, according to the National Judicial Data Grid, with 46.5mn in district and subordinate courts, 6.33mn in high courts and 86,742 before the Supreme Court.

Justice Kant says one of his first steps would be to engage with all HCs to identify the challenges affecting district and subordinate courts. He announced that constitution benches of five, seven and nine judges would be constituted 'in the next few weeks' to hear matters pending for long periods.

Stressing the need to strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, he says mediation would be implemented more effectively to ease the pressure on courts. Community mediation, he added, must be encouraged, particularly to reduce disputes between state governments and between the Centre and the states. “A conducive environment must be created for this,” he added.

When asked about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to address case backlogs, the new CJI says AI could help in procedural processes but cautioned that litigants expect their cases to be adjudicated by judges. “It has advantages, but people also have some concerns. It can be used in procedural matters. However, everyone wants their case to be decided by a judge,” he noted.

Comments

User

qsandy9999

3 months ago

Interesting that the CJI will definitely become one even if its for only 1 month, but all other services if you dont have full tenure you get bypassed. Justice served!!!!