Editor's note: President Droupadi Murmu on October 30, Thursday appointed Justice Surya Kant — the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after Chief Justice B.R. Gavai — as the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Surya Kant will assume office as Chief Justice on November 24, after incumbent CJI Gavai demits office on November 23, 2025.
ON MONDAY, THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA (‘CJI’) B.R. Gavai recommended the name of Justice Surya Kant as his successor. The President of India is likely to appoint Justice Kant as the next Chief Justice of India with effect from November 24, 2025.
Justice Kant is the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court and will demit office as CJI on 9 February 2027.
CJI Gavai, this morning, sent his recommendation to the Union Law Minister. A copy of the same was handed over to Justice Kant.
The convention
Apart from the two well-known departures, namely the appointment of Justice A.N. Ray in 1973 as CJI (who superseded three senior judges who formed the majority in the landmark Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) decision, and the appointment of Justice M.H. Beg as CJI in 1976 in supersession of Justice H.R. Khanna, who had dissented in the infamous ADM Jabalpur (1976) judgement, appointments to the office of the Chief Justice of India have, by convention, been of the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.
As per the Second Judges case (1993), the appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office. The proposal is required to be initiated by the outgoing CJI.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), a document agreed to by the Executive and the Collegium regarding the appointment and transfer of judges, the appointment to the office of the CJI should be of the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.
