Chief Justice of India B R Gavai Monday wrote to the Union government recommending Justice Surya Kant as his successor.
Once notified by the government, Justice Kant will take over as the 53rd Chief Justice when CJI Gavai demits office on November 23. Justice Kant will remain in office till February 9, 2027. Sources said CJI Gavai handed over a copy of the letter to Justice Surya Kant.
On October 23, the government wrote to CJI Gavai, urging him to send the recommendation letter. It is an established convention that the outgoing Chief Justice of India writes to the government recommending his successor.
Hailing from Haryana, Justice Kant graduated from the Government Post Graduate College, Hisar, in 1981. He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1984 from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and started practising law at the Hisar District Court. He moved to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where he specialised in Constitutional, Service and Civil matters. He was designated as Senior Advocate in March 2001, and remained Advocate General, Haryana, till his elevation as a permanent Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004.
He earned the distinction of being appointed the youngest Advocate General of Haryana on July 7, 2000.
Justice Kant was nominated as a member of the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority on February 23, 2007, for two consecutive terms, ending on February 22, 2011. He assumed office as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on October 5, 2018, and was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.
He is also currently the chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
