History · Polity

Chief Justices of India

All 53 Chief Justices of India since the Supreme Court began on 26 January 1950. A CJI retires at 65 (Article 124).

Exam facts

• Current CJISurya Kant (since 24 Nov 2025)
• Longest tenureY. V. Chandrachud: 7 yrs 4 months 19 days
• Shortest tenure (not counting acting)K. N. Singh: 17 days
• First CJIH. J. Kania
• First Muslim CJIM. Hidayatullah
• First Dalit CJIK. G. Balakrishnan
• First Sikh CJIJ. S. Khehar
• First Buddhist CJIB. R. Gavai
• Father and son both CJIY. V. Chandrachud (16th) and D. Y. Chandrachud (50th)
• Appointed byThe President (Article 124)
• Retirement age65 years

Full list with tenure

Tenure is shown in years, months and days. For the person in office now, it is counted up to 7 November 2026.

1. 1
   H. J. Kania26 Jan 1950 – 6 Nov 19511 yr 9 months 11 daysFirst CJI; died in office
2. 2
   M. Patanjali Sastri7 Nov 1951 – 3 Jan 19542 yrs 1 month 27 days
3. 3
   Mehr Chand Mahajan4 Jan 1954 – 22 Dec 195411 months 18 days
4. 4
   B. K. Mukherjea23 Dec 1954 – 31 Jan 19561 yr 1 month 8 days
5. 5
   S. R. Das1 Feb 1956 – 30 Sep 19593 yrs 7 months 29 days
6. 6
   B. P. Sinha1 Oct 1959 – 31 Jan 19644 yrs 3 months 30 days
7. 7
   P. B. Gajendragadkar1 Feb 1964 – 15 Mar 19662 yrs 1 month 14 days
8. 8
   A. K. Sarkar16 Mar 1966 – 29 Jun 19663 months 13 days
9. 9
   K. Subba Rao30 Jun 1966 – 11 Apr 19679 months 12 daysResigned to contest the presidential election
10. 10
    K. N. Wanchoo12 Apr 1967 – 24 Feb 196810 months 12 days
11. 11
    M. Hidayatullah25 Feb 1968 – 16 Dec 19702 yrs 9 months 21 daysFirst Muslim CJI; later Vice-President
12. 12
    J. C. Shah17 Dec 1970 – 21 Jan 19711 month 4 days
13. 13
    S. M. Sikri22 Jan 1971 – 25 Apr 19732 yrs 3 months 3 daysCJI during Kesavananda Bharati case
14. 14
    A. N. Ray26 Apr 1973 – 28 Jan 19773 yrs 9 months 2 days
15. 15
    M. H. Beg29 Jan 1977 – 21 Feb 19781 yr 23 days
16. 16
    Y. V. Chandrachud22 Feb 1978 – 11 Jul 19857 yrs 4 months 19 daysLongest-serving CJI
17. 17
    P. N. Bhagwati12 Jul 1985 – 20 Dec 19861 yr 5 months 8 daysPioneer of Public Interest Litigation
18. 18
    R. S. Pathak21 Dec 1986 – 18 Jun 19892 yrs 5 months 28 days
19. 19
    E. S. Venkataramiah19 Jun 1989 – 17 Dec 19895 months 28 days
20. 20
    S. Mukharji18 Dec 1989 – 25 Sep 19909 months 7 daysDied in office
21. 21
    Ranganath Misra26 Sep 1990 – 24 Nov 19911 yr 1 month 29 daysLater first Chairperson of NHRC
22. 22
    K. N. Singh25 Nov 1991 – 12 Dec 199117 daysShortest tenure
23. 23
    M. H. Kania13 Dec 1991 – 17 Nov 199211 months 4 days
24. 24
    L. M. Sharma18 Nov 1992 – 11 Feb 19932 months 24 days
25. 25
    M. N. Venkatachaliah12 Feb 1993 – 24 Oct 19941 yr 8 months 12 days
26. 26
    A. M. Ahmadi25 Oct 1994 – 24 Mar 19972 yrs 4 months 27 days
27. 27
    J. S. Verma25 Mar 1997 – 17 Jan 19989 months 23 days
28. 28
    M. M. Punchhi18 Jan 1998 – 9 Oct 19988 months 21 days
29. 29
    A. S. Anand10 Oct 1998 – 31 Oct 20013 yrs 21 days
30. 30
    S. P. Bharucha1 Nov 2001 – 5 May 20026 months 4 days
31. 31
    B. N. Kirpal6 May 2002 – 7 Nov 20026 months 1 day
32. 32
    G. B. Pattanaik8 Nov 2002 – 18 Dec 20021 month 10 days
33. 33
    V. N. Khare19 Dec 2002 – 1 May 20041 yr 4 months 12 days
34. 34
    S. Rajendra Babu2 May 2004 – 31 May 200429 days
35. 35
    R. C. Lahoti1 Jun 2004 – 31 Oct 20051 yr 4 months 30 days
36. 36
    Y. K. Sabharwal1 Nov 2005 – 13 Jan 20071 yr 2 months 12 days
37. 37
    K. G. Balakrishnan14 Jan 2007 – 11 May 20103 yrs 3 months 27 daysFirst Dalit CJI
38. 38
    S. H. Kapadia12 May 2010 – 28 Sep 20122 yrs 4 months 16 days
39. 39
    Altamas Kabir29 Sep 2012 – 18 Jul 20139 months 19 days
40. 40
    P. Sathasivam19 Jul 2013 – 26 Apr 20149 months 7 daysLater Governor of Kerala
41. 41
    R. M. Lodha27 Apr 2014 – 27 Sep 20145 months
42. 42
    H. L. Dattu28 Sep 2014 – 2 Dec 20151 yr 2 months 4 days
43. 43
    T. S. Thakur3 Dec 2015 – 3 Jan 20171 yr 1 month
44. 44
    J. S. Khehar4 Jan 2017 – 27 Aug 20177 months 23 daysFirst Sikh CJI
45. 45
    Dipak Misra28 Aug 2017 – 2 Oct 20181 yr 1 month 4 days
46. 46
    Ranjan Gogoi3 Oct 2018 – 17 Nov 20191 yr 1 month 14 daysFirst CJI from the North-East; Ayodhya verdict
47. 47
    S. A. Bobde18 Nov 2019 – 23 Apr 20211 yr 5 months 5 days
48. 48
    N. V. Ramana24 Apr 2021 – 26 Aug 20221 yr 4 months 2 days
49. 49
    U. U. Lalit27 Aug 2022 – 8 Nov 20222 months 12 days
50. 50
    Dr D. Y. Chandrachud9 Nov 2022 – 10 Nov 20242 yrs 1 daySon of the 16th CJI, Y. V. Chandrachud
51. 51
    Sanjiv Khanna11 Nov 2024 – 13 May 20256 months 2 days
52. 52
    B. R. Gavai14 May 2025 – 23 Nov 20256 months 9 daysFirst Buddhist CJI
53. 53
    Surya Kant24 Nov 2025 – present11 months 14 days so farDue to retire on 9 February 2027