List of chief justices of India
This is a list of all Chief Justices of India (CJI). There are a total of 48 Chief Justices of India that have served since the establishment of the Supreme Court of India in 1950, which superseded the Federal Court of India. The current Incumbent and 48th Chief Justice of India is Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, who entered office on 24 April 2021.
Precursor[edit]
Federal Court of India (1937–50)[edit]
The Federal Court of India came into being on 1 October 1937. The seat of the court was the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building in Delhi. It began with a Chief Justice and two puisne judges. The first Chief Justice was Sir Maurice Gwyer and the other two judges were Sir S. M. Sulaiman and M. R. Jayakar. It functioned until the establishment of the Supreme Court of India on 28 January 1950.
No. | Image | Name (birth–death) |
Period of office | Length of term | Bar | Appointed by | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Sir Maurice Linford Gwyer (1878–1952) |
1 October 1937 | 25 April 1943‡ | 5 years, 206 days | Inner Temple | The Marquess of Linlithgow |
Acting | Sir Srinivas Varadachariar | 25 April 1943 | 7 June 1943 | 43 days | Madras High Court | ||
2 | Sir William Patrick Spens (1885–1973) |
7 June 1943 | 14 August 1947 | 4 years, 68 days | Inner Temple | ||
3 | ![]() |
Sir Harilal Jekisundas Kania (1890–1951) |
14 August 1947 | 26 January 1950 | 2 years, 165 days | Bombay High Court | The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma |
List of Chief Justices of India[edit]
Supreme Court of India (1950–present)[edit]
Since the birth of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950, 47 judges have served as the Chief Justice of India (CJI).[1] H. J. Kania was the inaugural CJI. The current incumbent is N. V. Ramana who took office of Chief Justice of India on 24 April 2021.
No. | Image | Name (birth–death) |
Period of office | Length of term | Bar | Appointed by | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Harilal Jekisundas Kania (1890–1951) |
26 January 1950 | 6 November 1951† | 1 year, 284 days | Bombay High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
2 | ![]() |
Mandakolathur Patanjali Sastri (1889–1963) |
7 November 1951 | 3 January 1954 | 2 years, 57 days | Madras High Court | |
3 | ![]() |
Mehr Chand Mahajan (1889–1967) |
4 January 1954 | 22 December 1954 | 352 days | Lahore High Court | |
4 | ![]() |
Bijan Kumar Mukherjea (1891–1956) |
23 December 1954 | 31 January 1956‡ | 1 year, 39 days | Calcutta High Court | |
5 | ![]() |
Sudhi Ranjan Das (1894–1977) |
1 February 1956 | 30 September 1959 | 3 years, 241 days | Calcutta High Court | |
6 | ![]() |
Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha (1899–1986) |
1 October 1959 | 31 January 1964 | 4 years, 122 days | Patna High Court | |
7 | ![]() |
Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar (1901–1981) |
1 February 1964 | 15 March 1966 | 2 years, 42 days | Bombay High Court | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
8 | ![]() |
Amal Kumar Sarkar (1901–2001) |
16 March 1966 | 29 June 1966 | 105 days | Calcutta High Court | |
9 | ![]() |
Koka Subba Rao (1902–1976) |
30 June 1966 | 11 April 1967‡ | 285 days | Madras High Court | |
10 | ![]() |
Kailas Nath Wanchoo (1903–1988) |
12 April 1967 | 24 February 1968 | 318 days | Allahabad High Court | |
11 | ![]() |
Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)[2] |
25 February 1968 | 16 December 1970 | 2 years, 294 days | Bombay High Court | Zakir Husain |
12 | ![]() |
Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah (1906–1991) |
17 December 1970 | 21 January 1971 | 35 days | Bombay High Court | V. V. Giri |
13 | ![]() |
Sarv Mittra Sikri (1908–1992) |
22 January 1971 | 25 April 1973 | 2 years, 93 days | Lahore High Court | |
14 | ![]() |
Ajit Nath Ray (1912–2009) |
26 April 1973 | 27 January 1977 | 3 years, 276 days | Calcutta High Court | |
15 | ![]() |
Mirza Hameedullah Beg (1913–1988) |
29 January 1977 | 21 February 1978 | 1 year, 24 days | Allahabad High Court | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
16 | ![]() |
Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud (1920–2008) |
22 February 1978 | 11 July 1985 | 7 years, 139 days | Bombay High Court | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
17 | ![]() |
Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (1921–2017) |
12 July 1985 | 20 December 1986 | 1 year, 161 days | Gujarat High Court | Zail Singh |
18 | ![]() |
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak (1924–2007) |
21 December 1986 | 18 June 1989‡ | 2 years, 209 days | Allahabad High Court | |
19 | ![]() |
E. S. Venkataramiah (1924–1997) |
19 June 1989 | 17 December 1989 | 181 days | Karnataka High Court | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
20 | ![]() |
Sabyasachi Mukharji (1927–1990) |
18 December 1989 | 25 September 1990† | 281 days | Calcutta High Court | |
21 | ![]() |
Ranganath Misra (1926–2012) |
26 September 1990 | 24 November 1991 | 1 year, 59 days | Orissa High Court | |
22 | ![]() |
Kamal Narain Singh (1926–) |
25 November 1991 | 12 December 1991 | 17 days | Allahabad High Court | |
23 | ![]() |
Madhukar Hiralal Kania (1927–2016) |
13 December 1991 | 17 November 1992 | 340 days | Bombay High Court | |
24 | ![]() |
Lalit Mohan Sharma (1928–2008) |
18 November 1992 | 11 February 1993 | 85 days | Patna High Court | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
25 | ![]() |
M. N. Rao Venkatachaliah (1929–) |
12 February 1993 | 24 October 1994 | 1 year, 254 days | Karnataka High Court | |
26 | ![]() |
Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi (1932–) |
25 October 1994 | 24 March 1997 | 2 years, 150 days | Gujarat High Court | |
27 | ![]() |
Jagdish Sharan Verma (1933–2013) |
25 March 1997 | 17 January 1998 | 298 days | Madhya Pradesh High Court | |
28 | ![]() |
Madan Mohan Punchhi (1933–2015) |
18 January 1998 | 9 October 1998 | 264 days | Punjab and Haryana High Court | K. R. Narayanan |
29 | ![]() |
Adarsh Sein Anand (1936–2017) |
10 October 1998 | 31 October 2001 | 3 years, 21 days | Jammu and Kashmir High Court | |
30 | ![]() |
Sam Piroj Bharucha (1937–) |
1 November 2001 | 5 May 2002 | 185 days | Bombay High Court | |
31 | ![]() |
Bhupinder Nath Kirpal (1937–) |
6 May 2002 | 7 November 2002 | 185 days | Delhi High Court | |
32 | ![]() |
Gopal Ballav Pattanaik (1937–) |
8 November 2002 | 18 December 2002 | 40 days | Orissa High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
33 | ![]() |
Vishweshwar Nath Khare (1939–) |
19 December 2002 | 1 May 2004 | 1 year, 134 days | Allahabad High Court | |
34 | ![]() |
S. Rajendra Babu (1939–) |
2 May 2004 | 31 May 2004 | 29 days | Karnataka High Court | |
35 | ![]() |
Ramesh Chandra Lahoti (1940–) |
1 June 2004 | 31 October 2005 | 1 year, 152 days | Madhya Pradesh High Court | |
36 | ![]() |
Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal (1942–2015) |
1 November 2005 | 13 January 2007 | 1 year, 73 days | Delhi High Court | |
37 | ![]() |
K. G. Balakrishnan (1945–) |
14 January 2007 | 12 May 2010 | 3 years, 118 days | Kerala High Court | |
38 | ![]() |
Sarosh Homi Kapadia (1947–2016) |
12 May 2010 | 28 September 2012 | 2 years, 139 days | Bombay High Court | Pratibha Patil |
39 | ![]() |
Altamas Kabir (1948–2017) |
29 September 2012 | 18 July 2013 | 292 days | Calcutta High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
40 | ![]() |
P. Sathasivam (1949–) |
19 July 2013 | 26 April 2014 | 281 days | Madras High Court | |
41 | ![]() |
Rajendra Mal Lodha (1949–) |
27 April 2014 | 27 September 2014 | 153 days | Rajasthan High Court | |
42 | ![]() |
Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu (1950–) |
28 September 2014 | 2 December 2015 | 1 year, 65 days | Karnataka High Court | |
43 | ![]() |
Tirath Singh Thakur (1952–) |
3 December 2015 | 3 January 2017 | 1 year, 31 days | Jammu and Kashmir High Court | |
44 | ![]() |
Jagdish Singh Khehar (1952–) |
4 January 2017 | 27 August 2017 | 235 days | Punjab and Haryana High Court | |
45 | ![]() |
Dipak Misra (1953–) |
28 August 2017 | 2 October 2018 | 1 year, 35 days | Orissa High Court | Ram Nath Kovind |
46 | ![]() |
Ranjan Gogoi (1954–) |
3 October 2018 | 17 November 2019 | 1 year, 45 days | Guwahati High Court | |
47 | ![]() |
Sharad Arvind Bobde (1956–) |
18 November 2019[3] | 23 April 2021 | 1 year, 156 days | Bombay High Court | |
48 | ![]() |
Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana (1957–) |
24 April 2021 | Incumbent | 3 years, 344 days | Andhra Pradesh High Court |
Notes[edit]
- † – Date of Death
- ‡ – Date of Resignation
Trivia[edit]
Tenure[edit]
- 16th Chief Justice Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud is the longest-serving Chief Justice, serving over 7 years (February 1978 – July 1985).
- 22nd Chief Justice Kamal Narain Singh is the shortest-serving, for 17 days (25 November 1991 – 12 December 1991).
Longevity[edit]
- A. K. Sarkar was the longest-lived Chief Justice of India, he died at the age of 100.
- Four chief justices, A. N. Ray, P. N. Bhagwati, Kamal Narain Singh and, M. Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah are nonagenarians.
- Sir H. J. Kania is the shortest-lived Chief Justice, he died in office at the age of 61.
Family relations[edit]
- 1st Chief Justice Sir H. J. Kania was the uncle of 23rd Chief Justice M. H. Kania.
- 21st Chief Justice Ranganath Misra was the uncle of 45th Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
- 46th Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was the son of former Chief Minister of Assam, K.C. Gogoi.
Representation[edit]
- 11th Chief Justice Mohd. Hidayatullah, being a Muslim was the first CJI from a minority community.
- 37th Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan was the first CJI from Dalit community.
- 44th Chief Justice J. S. Kehar was the first CJI from the Sikh community.
Retirement[edit]
- Normally, a chief Justice retires on his birthday.
See also[edit]
- List of current Indian chief justices
- List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India
- List of female judges of the Supreme Court of India
- List of former judges of the Supreme Court of India
References[edit]
- ↑ "List of Retired Hon'ble Chief Justices". Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ↑ Also served as Acting President of India and Vice President of India.
- ↑ "Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde takes oath as 47th CJI". Times of India. 18 November 2019.