Justice Surya Kant has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). He is set to take oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India today (November 24) and will serve till February 9, 2027. Earlier this month, the Department of Justice in the Union Law Ministry issued a notification announcing his appointment. Known for his sharp intellect, landmark judgments and deep understanding of constitutional law, Justice Surya Kant is also among the wealthiest members of the judiciary - as revealed in his asset declaration published on the Supreme Court's website.
Justice Surya Kant's net worth
According to official records, Justice Surya Kant holds Fixed Deposits (FDs) worth over Rs 8 crore, along with a provident fund of Rs 4.23 crore. Although he owns no vehicle himself, his wife owns a WagonR. The judge owns six residential properties and two plots across India. His assets include a one-kanal house in Chandigarh's Sector 10 and a 500-square-yard plot in New Chandigarh's Eco City-II. He also owns a 192-square-yard house in Chandigarh's Sector 18-C and 13.5 acres of agricultural land in Panchkula's Golpura village. Justice Surya Kant also possesses a 300-square-yard plot in Gurugram's Sushant Lok-I, a 250-square-yard house in DLF-II, and a ground floor and basement in a 285-square-yard property in Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi. In his hometown Hisar, he holds 12 acres of farmland in Petwar and a one-third share in ancestral houses in both Petwar and Hisar Urban Estate-II.
Heavy investment in gold and fixed deposits
Justice Surya Kant and his family together possess about 1.1 kilograms of gold and six kilograms of silver. His wife's PPF account contains Rs 49.9 lakh and her GPF account holds Rs 3.74 crore. His two daughters each own 100 grams of gold. The elder daughter has eight FDs worth Rs 34 lakh and a PPF of Rs 47 lakh, while the younger one holds seven FDs worth Rs 25 lakh and a PPF of Rs 47 lakh.
Journey from small-town lawyer to CJI
Born on February 10, 1962, in a middle-class family in Haryana's Hisar district, Justice Surya Kant began his career as a small-town lawyer before rising to the country's top judicial post. A gold medallist and first-rank holder in postgraduate law from Kurukshetra University (1981), he was appointed a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2004 and later became the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2018. In 2019, he was elevated to the Supreme Court where he contributed to major constitutional and national interest cases, including matters related to Article 370, freedom of expression and citizenship rights.
Key judgments and contributions
Justice Surya Kant has been part of several landmark benches, including one that kept the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance, instructing that no new FIRs be filed under it until the government’s review was complete.
He also asked the Election Commission to make public details of 65 lakh voters excluded from Bihar's draft electoral rolls and played a crucial role in upholding transparency in electoral processes.
As a strong advocate of gender justice and grassroots democracy, Justice Surya Kant led a bench that reinstated a woman sarpanch who was unlawfully removed, highlighting gender bias in local governance. He also directed that one-third of all Bar Association seats, including the Supreme Court Bar Association, be reserved for women.
He was a member of the bench that ordered a probe into the 2022 security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit, forming a committee led by Justice Indu Malhotra. Justice Surya Kant was also part of the bench that upheld the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme and reviewed gender equality in permanent commission for women officers in the armed forces.
A legacy of constitutional leadership
Since his elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Surya Kant has served on over 300 benches and contributed significantly to criminal, constitutional and administrative law. He was among the seven judges who revisited the 1967 AMU minority status case which paved the way for its reconsideration. He also helped constitute a three-member expert committee to investigate the alleged use of Pegasus spyware in India.
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