List of Chief Justices of India: Tenures and Articles

The Chief Justice of India heads the Supreme Court of India and, through it, the whole judicial system of the country. Examinations ask about the office in two ways. The first is a rule taken from the Constitution: who appoints the Chief Justice, until what age the office is held, how it may be vacated. The second is a name from the list of office-holders: the first Chief Justice, the longest-serving, the shortest-serving, the one who officiated as President, the father and the son who both reached the chair. The list begins on 26 January 1950, the day the Federal Court of India gave way to the Supreme Court, and it is a short list, so the names repay learning. Fifty-three judges have held the office so far, each with one tag worth remembering.

The office under the Constitution

Article 124 establishes the Supreme Court and provides for the appointment of its judges. The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal. By a convention followed since 1950, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court is appointed and the outgoing Chief Justice recommends the successor. The convention was set aside twice, in 1973 when Justice A. N. Ray was appointed over three senior colleagues, and in 1977 when Justice M. H. Beg superseded Justice H. R. Khanna. A judge of the Supreme Court holds office until the age of sixty-five under Article 124(2) and may resign by writing to the President. Removal is possible only by an order of the President made after an address by each House of Parliament in the same session, supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting, on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. Article 126 allows the President to appoint an acting Chief Justice when the office is vacant or the holder is unable to perform the duties. Article 127 provides for ad hoc judges and Article 128 lets a retired judge sit again, in both cases at the request of the Chief Justice of India. The salaries of the judges are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, so they are not voted on in Parliament.

What the Chief Justice does

The Chief Justice of India is master of the roster: he decides which bench hears which case and constitutes the constitution benches. He heads the collegium that recommends appointments and transfers in the higher judiciary. He administers the oath of office to the President of India under Article 60 and to the Vice-President. He is consulted by the President under Article 143 when an advisory opinion is sought, and he is the ex officio Patron-in-Chief of the National Legal Services Authority.

The early Chief Justices

Justice Harilal Jekisundas Kania was the first Chief Justice of India, from 26 January 1950 until his death in office on 6 November 1951. Justice M. Patanjali Sastri followed as the second, and Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan as the third; Mahajan had earlier served as Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Justice Bijan Kumar Mukherjea was the fourth and Justice Sudhi Ranjan Das the fifth, whose tenure of more than three years was the longest of the first decade. Justice Bhuvneshwar Prasad Sinha, the sixth, was in office when the Supreme Court began to shape its early constitutional doctrine.

Records and firsts the papers test

No woman has yet been Chief Justice of India. Justice M. Fathima Beevi, appointed in 1989, was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court, and Justice Leila Seth was the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court.

The recent Chief Justices

Justice Surya Kant, born on 10 February 1962 at Hisar in Haryana, was elevated to the Supreme Court on 24 May 2019 and sworn in as the fifty-third Chief Justice of India on 24 November 2025. Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the fifty-first Chief Justice, is the nephew of Justice H. R. Khanna, remembered for his lone dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case of 1976.

How to revise this list

Do not try to memorise all fifty-three names and dates. Learn the office rules in Articles 124 to 128 first, because most questions come from there. Then fix the seven records in the table above, the four most recent holders with the year each took charge, and the first six names in order. That covers almost everything a paper setter can ask from the chapter.