NEW DELHI, Nov 23:
Justice Surya Kant, who has been part of several landmark verdicts and orders on abrogation of Article 370 removing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Bihar electoral rolls revision and Pegasus spyware case, will on Monday take oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India.
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He will succeed Justice B R Gavai, who demits office this evening.
Justice Kant was appointed as the next CJI on October 30 and will remain in the post for nearly 15 months. He will demit office on February 9, 2027 on attaining the age of 65 years.
Born on February 10, 1962 in Hisar district of Haryana to a middle-class family, Justice Kant went from being a small-town lawyer to the country’s highest judicial office, where he has been part of several verdicts and orders of national importance and constitutional matters. He also has the distinction of standing ‘first class first’ in his Master’s degree in law in 2011 from Kurukshetra University.
Justice Kant, who penned several notable judgments in the Punjab and Haryana HC, was appointed the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh HC on October 5, 2018.
His tenure as an SC judge is marked by verdicts on the abrogation of Article 370, free speech and citizenship rights.
The judge was part of the recent presidential reference on the powers of the Governor and President in dealing with bills passed by a state assembly. The verdict is keenly awaited with potential ramifications across states.
He was part of the bench that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, directing that no new FIRs be registered under it until a Government review.
Justice Kant also nudged the Election Commission to disclose the details of 65 lakh voters excluded from the draft electoral rolls in Bihar while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the poll panel’s decision to undertake Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters list in the poll-bound State. (PTI)
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