New Delhi, November 24
At a ceremony held today in the Ganatantra Mandap, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. He made and subscribed to the oath of office before the President. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the oath taking ceremony and extended his wishes to Justice Surya Kant for his tenure ahead.
Born on February 10, 1962 at Hisar (Haryana) in a middle class family, Kant graduated from Government Post Graduate College, Hisar in 1981. He earned Bachelor’s Degree in Law in 1984 from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Kant started practicing Law at the District Court, Hisar in 1984. Shifted to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He has specialization in Constitutional, Service and Civil matters. Kant represented a number of Universities, Boards, Corporations, Banks and also the High Court itself. He earned the distinction of being appointed the youngest Advocate General of Haryana on July 7, 2000.
Kant was designated as Senior Advocate in March, 2001. He held the office of Advocate General, Haryana till his elevation as a permanent Judge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 09, 2004. Assumed charge of the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on October 5, 2018. On May 9, 2019, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi recommended his elevation to the Supreme Court of India.
Kant has delivered numerous judgments on human rights, gender justice, education and prison reforms inter alia. During his tenure at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he delivered the Jasvir Singh judgement, directing the State of Punjab to form a Jail Reforms Committee for creating a scheme for enabling conjugal and family visits for jail inmates keeping in mind the beneficial nature and reformatory goals of such amenities.
While delivering a lecture on prison reforms at HP National Law University in May 2022, Kant discussed the effect of incarceration on prisoners’ families and recalled the novel system of prison administration called ‘break-up and weekend prison’ proposed by Justice VR Krishna Iyer. Kant has also organised and attended various prestigious National/International Conferences.
