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Justice Surya Kant to succeed CJI BR Gavai? Process begins to finalise replacement
CJI BR Gavai’s formal recommendation will kickstart the process of appointing Justice Surya Kant as the next Chief Justice of India.
As the tenure of Chief Justice of India Bhusan R Gavai is nearing its end, he has been asked by the Union law ministry to recommend a name for his successor. This marks the initiation of the formal process to appoint the next Chief Justice of India.
CJI BR Gavai will retire next month on November 23. To kickstart the process of appointing the new CJI, the current head of the Indian judiciary is asked by the law ministry to recommend a name of his successor around a month ahead of the end of their tenure. The CJI then recommends the name of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, “considered fit to hold the office”.
After CJI Gavai, Justice Surya Kant is reportedly in line to succeed him to the highest judiciary post in the country. CJI Gavai’s formal recommendation will kickstart the process of appointing Justice Surya Kant as the next Chief Justice of India. Following which, the latter will start to take part in key administrative decisions alongside the current CJI.
Who is Justice Surya Kant?
Born on February 10, 1962, in Haryana’s Hisar to a middle class family, Justice Surya Kant paved his way to the Supreme Court of India over the years through sheer grit. He graduated from Hisar’s Government Post Graduate College in 1981 and earned his bachelor's degree in law from Rohtak’s Maharishi Dayanand University in 1984. It was in Hisar where he started practicing law in the district court in 1984 before moving to Chandigarh the next year to practice in the Punjab and Haryana high court.
In 2000, Justice Kant was appointed as the youngest Advocate General of Haryana and was elevated as a permanent Judge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 09, 2004.
In 2018, he became the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court before beginning his stint at the Supreme Court in 2019. Justice Surya Kant will retire on 09th February, 2027.
(With inputs from Utkarsh Anand)
