Chief Justice of India

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English Template:Infobox official post Template:Courts of India The chief justice of India (CJI) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, as recommended by the outgoing chief justice in consultation with other judges, (as envisaged in Article 124 (2) of the Constitution)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the next chief justice, who will serve until they reach the age of 65 or are removed by the constitutional process of impeachment.

The CJI ranks 6th in the Order of Precedence of India<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and as per convention, the successor suggested by the incumbent chief justice is most often the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court. However, this convention has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed, superseding three senior judges, and in 1977 when Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as Chief Justice, superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.

As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches that deal with important matters of law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice has to allocate work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter back to them (for re-allocation) in any case where they require it to be looked into by another group of experienced judges.

On the administrative side, the chief justice carries out functions of maintenance of the roster, appointment of court officials, and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court. The chief justice is de facto chancellor of National Law School of India University and The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The 52nd and present chief justice is Bhushan Gavai. Sworn in on 14 May, 2025, he became the first Buddhist to hold this post. He will have a 6 months term which is due to end on November 23, 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Chief Justice of India B. R. Gavai recommends Justice Surya Kant as the next chief justice of India. Justice Surya Kant, the second senior-most Supreme Court judge after the incumbent CJI B. R. Gavai, is set to become the 53rd chief justice of India. on November 24 after CJI B. R. Gavai's retirement on November 23.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Appointment

As the incumbent chief justice approaches retirement, the Ministry of Law and Justice seeks a recommendation from the incumbent chief justice. Consultations with other judges might also take place. The recommendation is then presented to the prime minister, who will advice the president in the matter of appointment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Removal

Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India lays down the procedure for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court, which is applicable to chief justices as well. Once appointed, the chief justice remains in office until age 65. There is no fixed tenure provided in the constitution. Template:Citation needed He can be removed only through a process of removal by Parliament as follows:

Acting president

The President (Discharge of Functions) Act, 1969 specifies the chief justice of India shall act as the president of India in the event of the offices of both the president and the vice president being vacant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> When President Zakir Hussain died in office, Vice President V. V. Giri acted as the president. Later, V. V. Giri resigned as the vice president, the chief justice, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah became the acting president of India. As per the convention, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court become the acting chief justice. When the newly elected president took office a month later, Justice Hidayatullah reverted as the chief justice of India.

Remuneration

The Constitution of India gives the power of deciding remuneration as well as other conditions of service of the chief justice to the Parliament of India. Accordingly, such provisions have been laid down in The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.<ref name="HC and SC Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Amendment Bill 2008">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="SC Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act 1958">Template:Cite web</ref> This remuneration was revised in 2006–2008 after the Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to the Seventh pay commission, in 2016, the salary was revised.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

List of chief justices of India

Key

Template:Dagger	Died in office
Template:Double dagger	Resigned

Template:Abbr	Name (birth–death)	Image	Start of Term	End of Term	Length of Term	Parent High Court	Appointed by (President of India)	Date of appointment as Judge in		Previous offices as Chief Justice of High Court	Nominated as Judge in		Template:Abbreviation
								Supreme Court	Parent High Court		Supreme Court by (CJI)	Parent High Court by (CJI)
1	Template:Sortname (1890–1951)	Harilal Jekisundas Kania	Template:Dts	Template:DtsTemplate:Dagger	Template:Ayd	Bombay	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	--	--	<ref name=sci-hjkania/>
2	Template:Sortname (1889–1963)	Mandakolathur Patanjali Sastri	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Madras		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	--	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
3	Template:Sortname (1889–1967)	Mehr Chand Mahajan	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Lahore		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	--	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
4	Template:Sortname (1891–1956)	Bijan Kumar Mukherjea	Template:Dts	Template:DtsTemplate:Double dagger	Template:Ayd	Calcutta		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	--	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
5	Template:Sortname (1894–1977)	Sudhi Ranjan Das	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Calcutta		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	2nd CJ of Punjab HC	--	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
6	Template:Sortname (1899–1986)	Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Patna		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	CJ of Nagpur HC	M. C. Mahajan	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
7	Template:Sortname (1901–1981)	Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	S. R. Das	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
8	Template:Sortname (1901–2001)	Amal Kumar Sarkar	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Calcutta		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--		--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
9	Template:Sortname (1902–1976)	Koka Subba Rao	Template:Dts	Template:DtsTemplate:Double dagger	Template:Ayd	Madras		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	CJ of Unified Andhra Pradesh HC		--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
10	Template:Sortname (1903–1988)	Kailas Nath Wanchoo	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Allahabad		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	2nd CJ of Rajasthan HC		--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
11	Template:Sortname (1905–1992)Template:Efn	M. Hidayatullah	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Nagpur	Zakir Hussain	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	1st CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC		--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
12	Template:Sortname (1906–1991)	Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	B. P. Sinha	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
13	Template:Sortname (1908–1992)	Sarv Mittra Sikri	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bar Council		Template:Dts	N/A	N/A	P. B. Gajendragadkar	N/A	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
14	Template:Sortname (1912–2009)	Ajit Nath Ray	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Calcutta		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	M. Hidayatullah	--	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
15	Template:Sortname (1913–1988)	Mirza Hameedullah Beg	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Allahabad	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	1st CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC	S. M. Sikri	B. P. Sinha	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
16	Template:Sortname (1920–2008)	Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
17	Template:Sortname (1921–2017)	Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Gujarat	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	5th CJ of Gujarat HC	A. N. Ray		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
18	Template:Sortname (1924–2007)	Raghunandan Swarup Pathak	Template:Dts	Template:Dts‡	Template:Ayd	Allahabad		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	2nd CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC	M. H. Beg		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
19	Template:Sortname (1924–1997)	E. S. Venkataramiah	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Karnataka	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	Y. V. Chandrachud	M. Hidayatullah	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
20	Template:Sortname (1927–1990)	Sabyasachi Mukharji	Template:Dts	Template:DtsTemplate:Dagger	Template:Ayd	Calcutta		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
21	Template:Sortname (1926–2012)	Ranganath Misra	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Orissa			Template:Dts	10th CJ of Orissa HC			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
22	Template:Sortname (1926–2022)		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Allahabad		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	P. N. Bhagwati		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
23	Template:Sortname (1927–2016)		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	24th CJ of Bombay HC	R. S. Pathak		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
24	Template:Sortname (1928–2008)		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Patna	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--		S. M. Sikri	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
25	Template:Sortname (born 1929)	Error creating thumbnail:	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Karnataka			Template:Dts	--		A. N. Ray	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
26	Template:Sortname (1932–2023)	Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Gujarat		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
27	Template:Sortname (1933–2013)	Jagdish Sharan Verma	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Madhya Pradesh		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	10th CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC 16th CJ of Rajasthan HC		S. M. Sikri	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
28	Template:Sortname (1933–2015)	Madan Mohan Punchhi	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Punjab and Haryana	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	E. S. Venkataramiah	Y. V. Chandrachud	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
29	Template:Sortname (1936–2017)	Adarsh Sein Anand	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Jammu and Kashmir		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	14th CJ of Jammu and Kashmir HC 24th CJ of Madras HC	Template:Sortname	A. N. Ray	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
30	Template:Sortname (born 1937)	Sam Piroj Bharucha	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	13th CJ of Karnataka HC	M. H. Kania	M. H. Beg	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
31	Template:Sortname (born 1937)	Bhupinder Nath Kirpal	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Delhi		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	13th CJ of Gujarat HC	A. M. Ahmadi	Y. V. Chandrachud	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
32	Template:Sortname (born 1937)	Gopal Ballav Pattanaik	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Orissa	Template:Sortname		Template:Dts	27th CJ of Patna HC			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
33	Template:Sortname (born 1939)	Vishweshwar Nath Khare	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Allahabad		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	29th CJ of Calcutta HC			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
34	Template:Sortname (born 1939)	S. Rajendra Babu	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Karnataka		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	J. S. Verma	R. S. Pathak	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
35	Template:Sortname (1940–2022)	Ramesh Chandra Lahoti	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Madhya Pradesh		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	A. S. Anand		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
36	Template:Sortname (1942–2015)	Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Delhi		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	31st CJ of Bombay HC		P. N. Bhagwati	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
37	Template:Sortname (born 1945)	Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Kerala		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	16th CJ of Gujarat HC 29th CJ of Madras HC			<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
38	Template:Sortname (1947–2016)	Sarosh Homi Kapadia	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	2nd CJ of Uttarakhand HC	V. N. Khare	Template:Sortname	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
39	Template:Sortname (1948–2017)	Altamas Kabir	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Calcutta	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	3rd CJ of Jharkhand HC	R. C. Lahoti	Template:Sortname	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
40	Template:Sortname (born 1949)	Palanisamy Sathasivam	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Madras		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	K. G. Balakrishnan	A. M. Ahmadi	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
41	Template:Sortname (born 1949)	Rajendra Mal Lodha	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Rajasthan		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	33rd CJ of Patna HC		M. N. Venkatachaliah	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
42	Template:Sortname (born 1950)	Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Karnataka			Template:Dts	6th CJ of Chhattisgarh HC 27th CJ of Kerala HC		A. M. Ahmadi	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
43	Template:Sortname (born 1952)	Tirath Singh Thakur	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Jammu and Kashmir		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	28th CJ of Punjab and Haryana HC		M. N. Venkatachaliah	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
44	Template:Sortname (born 1952)	Jagdish Singh Khehar	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Punjab and Haryana		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	7th CJ of Uttarakhand HC 25th CJ of Karnataka HC	S. H. Kapadia	A. S. Anand	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
45	Template:Sortname (born 1953)	Dipak Misra	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Orissa	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	36th CJ of Patna HC 25th CJ of Delhi HC		A. M. Ahmadi	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
46	Template:Sortname (born 1954)	Ranjan Gogoi	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Gauhati		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	30th CJ of Punjab and Haryana HC		A. S. Anand	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
47	Template:Sortname (born 1956)	Sharad Arvind Bobde	Template:Dts<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	21st CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC	Template:Sortname		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
48	Template:Sortname (born 1957)	Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Andhra Pradesh		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	27th CJ of Delhi HC	P. Sathasivam		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
49	Template:Sortname (born 1957)	Uday Umesh Lalit	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bar Council	Template:Sortname	Template:Dts	N/A	N/A	R. M. Lodha	N/A	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
50	Template:Sortname (born 1959)	Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Bombay		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	45th CJ of Allahabad HC	T. S. Thakur	A. S. Anand	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
51	Template:Sortname (born 1960)	Sanjiv Khanna	Template:Dts	Template:Dts	Template:Ayd	Delhi		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--	Template:Sortname	R. C. Lahoti	<ref name=skhanna>Template:Cite web</ref>
52	Template:Sortname (born 1960)	Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai	Template:Dts	Incumbent	Template:Ayd	Bombay		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	--		V. N. Khare	<ref name=brgavai>Template:Cite web</ref>
53	Template:Sortname (born 1962)	Surya Kant	Assuming office on		Template:Ayd	Punjab and Haryana		Template:Dts	Template:Dts	23rd CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC			<ref name=suryakant>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Collegium system
• Supreme Court of India
• High courts of India
• Tribunals in India
• Judiciary of India
• Constitution of India
• List of chief justices of India
• National Judicial Appointments Commission
• List of landmark court decisions in India

Current Judiciary

• List of current Indian chief justices
• List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Official website of Supreme Court of India