Justice Surya Kant sworn in as 53rd Chief Justice of India, vows to cut Supreme Court pendency and ensure gender justice

New Delhi (India) November 24: Justice Surya Kant took the oath of office and secrecy as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Monday morning in Rashtrapati Bhawan by President Droupadi Murmu. He has traveled from the fields of a village in Haryana to the highest judicial position in our country. The Chief Justice's term will end in just over one year, on February 2, 2027, but he has committed to working as a priority to reduce the number of pending cases to a manageable number regarding the over 90,000 unique pending cases in the Supreme Court.

Played key roles in landmark rulings

Justice Kant has been part of several monumental decisions made by the Supreme Court, including, but not limited to, the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which removed the special status of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, Justice Kant was part of the bench which found the scheme for electoral bonds did not article with the Constitution, and part of the bench which heard the Pegasus spyware covering party case, suspension of the sedition law.

One of the latest rulings in which Justice Kant was a part of was the bench that ruled on the presidential reference about setting timelines regarding state bills that required assent from the governors, and President.

Praised for promoting Indian legal ethos and launching NALSA’s Veer Parivar Sahayata Yojana

As the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), he introduced the program Veer Parivar Sahayata Yojana 2025, to provide legal aid free of charge to soldiers, veterans and their families. 

In situations involving gender justice and grassroots democracy, he reinstated a woman sarpanch who had been inappropriately ousted and ordered that one-third of seats in bar associations, including SCBA, be reserved for women. He was also on the bench which upheld the One Rank-One Pension scheme for defence forces and continues to hear petitions from women officers seeking parity for permanent commission. 

The India's Got Latent Ruling 

Chief Justice Kant was perceived to be drawing a sharp dividing line between humour and perversion while hearing the case of the Youtuber Ranveer Allahbadia, who had sought Protection from arrest, in the Supreme Court case over his comments about parents and sex during the show 'India Got Latent.’

Justice Gavai’s Gesture Ushers Chief Justice Kant’s First Journey in Official Car

Following the oath-taking ceremony, Justice Gavai showed his sense of fellowship by reserving for Chief Justice Kant the official vehicle for the Chief Justice of India to ensure that his successor's first ride to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice of India was in the official car. 

Chief Justice of India Kant and his immediate predecessor Justice B.R. Gavai were both recently praised by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for bringing "Indianness" in the courts. Mr. Mehta pointed out in his speech that their judgment did not look to foreign precedents of law and relied upon India's own heritage of case laws and legal principles in their decisions.