New Era Begins: Justice Surya Kant Takes Oath as India’s 53rd Chief Justice
Introduction
On Monday, within New Delhi, Justice Surya Kant took oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI), signifying the commencement of his 15-month period within the highest judicial office of the nation.
Justice Surya Kant took oath on Monday as the 53rd Chief Justice of India, where President Droupadi Murmu, administered the oath to Justice Kant. Along with this, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, Om Birla, Lok Sabha Speaker, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Amit Shah, the Union Minister and Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister, were present at the oath ceremony of CJI.
Surya Kant succeeds Justice BR Gavai, who demitted the office on Sunday evening. Appointed on 30th October, Justice Kant will serve until 9th February 2027, when he will turn 65.
Landmark verdicts and major interventions
- Justice Kant was a significant part of the Supreme Court bench which upheld the abrogation of Article 370, which reserved the colonial-era sedition law in abeyance by guiding that no novel FIRs be lodged and oversaw the presidential orientation on the authority of the President and the Governor about the state bills.
- He also asked the Election Commission to reveal the names of the 65 lakh voters who are disqualified from the draft rolls of Bihar and reinstated a woman sarpanch who was removed illegally due to gender bias. He stated that one-third of the seats in the bar associations, which include the Supreme Court Bar Association, will be reserved for women.
- Justice Kant was also present on the bench, which selected a committee led by Justice Indu Malhotra in order to investigate the safety breach at the time of the Punjab Visit of Narendra Modi in 2022, considering that such questions needed a prudently taught mind.
- He upheld the One Rank-One pension scheme and continues to hear cases which are lodged by women officers seeking equality in everlasting charge. He was a significant part of the seven-judge bench which overruled the 1967 AMU ruling and served on the bench managing the Pegasus spyware case, determining that the state could not get a free pass under the pretext of national safety.
Steps to be taken by Surya Kant, being a CJI
- During an interaction with media ahead of assuming charge, the CJI designate determined that minimising pendency within the Supreme Court, along with courts throughout the nation, will be his priority.
- He also demonstrated that one of his preliminary steps, being the CJI, will involve all high courts in order to recognise the issues which create an impact on the functioning of subordinate and district courts.
- After Surya Kant CJI Oath today he also declared that the Constitution Benches of five, seven, and nine judges would be constituted within the next few weeks in order to hear significant aspects which have been pending for a long time.
- After becoming Justice Surya Kant 53rd CJI the focus will be upon the requirement to reinforce the substitute dispute resolution approach, he determined that mediation will also be efficiently adopted to minimise the pressure of millions of cases.
- He also added that community mediation should be encouraged, specifically to minimise the inequalities among the states and the centre and between the state governments.
Scope of employing Artificial Intelligence (AI): Surya Kant stated that even though there is a significant scope of using AI to minimise the accumulation of cases, it still comprises a number of challenges and issues, along with some concerns. It could prove to be valuable within procedural matters.
