List of all Chief Justices of India- CJI (1950-2024) (CJI)

Latest News: Justice DY Chandrachud has become the 50th Chief Justice of India.

The former Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit finished his tenure on 8th November 2022. Justice DY Chandrachud is the next and current Chief Justice of India starting from 9th November 2022.

The Chief Justice of India is the head of the country’s judiciary. He, together with thirty other judges, presides over India’s Supreme Court. The CJI is chosen as a Judge of the Supreme Court and subsequently recommended for the position of Chief Justice of India by the retiring CJI, as per Article 124 of the Indian Constitution.

The List of Chief Justices of India (1950-2024) is included in this article, along with their terms of office. Candidates studying for different Government examinations should be familiar with CJI since questions based on the ‘CJI’ are asked in the Static GK section of the General Awareness Section.

Procedure

The Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) between the government and the judiciary lays out the actual procedure for appointing the next CJI. According to the MoP, the CJI shall be appointed by the most senior Supreme Court judge who is judged suitable to assume the position.

The procedure is started by the Union Law Minister asking the outgoing CJI’s suggestion at a “suitable period,” as per the MoP. If the current Chief Justice of India has any reservations regarding the senior-most judge’s fitness to hold the post of Chief Justice of India, he can contact the collegium.

According to the MoP, “the Law Minister will make a proposal to the Prime Minister, who will advise the President on the appointment.” Whenever the government disagrees with the existing CJI’s proposal, the MoP remains silent.

Roles & Responsibilities of CJI

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) has a wide range of authorities and responsibilities:

• The President and Governors are sworn in.
• The President of India consults with the CJI on appointing justices to the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
• Ad hoc Supreme Court justices can be appointed under Article 127 of the Constitution.
• The Supreme Court is where the retired judges should be appointed.
• The CJI can move the Supreme Court’s seat from Delhi to any other location with the president’s consent.
• The Supreme Court’s officials and employees shall be appointed by the CJI.
• The CJI has the effect of transferring justices from one High Court to another.
• A financial disagreement between the Centre and the states can be resolved by an arbitrator appointed by the CJI.

NAME	TENURE
H.J Kania	26th Nov 1950 – 6th Nov 1951
M. Patanjali Sastri	7th Nov 1951 – 3rd Jan 1954
Mehr Chand Mahajan	4th Jan 1954 – 22nd Dec 1954
Bijan Kumar Mukherjea	23rd Dec 1954 – 31st Jan 1956
Sudhi Ranjan Das	1st Feb 1956 – 30th Sept 1959
Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha	1st Oct 1959 – 31st Jan 1964
P. B. Gajendragadkar	1st Feb 1964 – 15th Mar 1966
Amal Kumar Sarkar	16th Mar 1966 – 29th Jun 1966
Koka Subba Rao	30th Jun 1966 – 11th April 1967
Kailas Nath Wanchoo	12th April 1967- 24th Feb 1968
Mohammad Hidayatullah	25th Feb 1968 – 16th Dec 1970
Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah	17th Dec 1970 – 21st Jan 1971
Sarv Mittra Sikri	22nd Jan 1971 – 25 Apr 1973
A. N. Ray	26th Apr 1973 – 27th Jan 1977
Mirza Hameedullah Beg	29th Jan 1977 – 21st Feb 1978
Y. V. Chandrachud	22nd Feb 1978 – 11th  Jul 1985
P. N. Bhagwati	12th  Jul 1985 – 20th  Dec 1986
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak	21st Dec 1986 – 18th Jun 1989
Engalaguppe Seetharamaiah Venkataramiah	19th Jun 1989 – 17th Dec 1989
Sabyasachi Mukharji	18th Dec 1989 – 25th Sept 1990
Ranganath Misra	26th Sept 1990 – 24th Nov 1991
Kamal Narain Singh	25th Nov 1991 – 12th Dec 1991
Madhukar Hiralal Kania	13th Dec 1991 – 17th Nov 1992
Lalit Mohan Sharma	18th Nov 1992 – 11th Feb 1993
M. N. Venkatachaliah	12th Feb 1993 – 24th Oct 1994
Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi	25th Oct 1994 – 24th Mar 1997
J. S. Verma	25th Mar 1997 – 17th Jan 1998
Madan Mohan Punchhi	18th Jan 1998 – 9th Oct 1998
Adarsh Sein Anand	10th Oct 1998 – 31st Oct 2001
Sam Piroj Bharucha	1st Nov 2001 – 5th May 2002
Bhupinder Nath Kirpal	6th May 2002 – 7th Nov 2002
Gopal Ballav Pattanaik	8th Nov 2002 – 18th Dec 2002
V. N. Khare	19th Dec 2002 – 1st May 2004
S. Rajendra Babu	2nd May 2004 – 31st May 2004
Ramesh Chandra Lahoti	1st Jun 2004 – 31st Oct 2005
Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal	1st Nov 2005 – 13th Jan 2007
K. G. Balakrishnan	14th Jan 2007 – 12th May 2010
S. H. Kapadia	12th May 2010 – 28th Sept2012
Altamas Kabir	29th Sept 2012 – 18th Jul 2013
P. Sathasivam	19th Jul 2013 – 26th Apr 2014
Rajendra Mal Lodha	27th Apr 2014 – 27th Sept 2014
H. L. Dattu	28th Sept 2014 – 2nd Dec 2015
T. S. Thakur	3rd Dec 2015 – 3rd Jan 2017
Jagdish Singh Khehar	4th Jan 2017 – 27th Aug 2017
Dipak Misra	28th Aug 2017 – 2nd Oct 2018
Ranjan Gogoi	3rd Oct 2018 – 17th Nov 2019
Sharad Arvind Bobde	18th Nov 2019 – 23rd Apr 2021
Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana	23rd Apr 2021 – 26th August 2022
Uday Umesh Lalit	27th August 2022- 8th November 2022
Justice DY Chandrachud	Since 9th November 2022

Important Facts Regarding ‘CJI’

1. The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President of India, and the CJI can serve until he or she reaches the age of 65. In addition, the CJI can only be removed by Parliament through an impeachment procedure.
2. The President of India accepts the Chief Justice of India’s resignation. The Chief Justice of India is sworn in by the President of India.
3. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is paid a monthly salary of Rs.280,000 plus additional perks. The Salary of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is governed by Article 125 of the Constitution.
4. Mr Sir Maurice Gwyer was India’s first Chief Justice (before to independence). He assumed command on October 1, 1937, and served until April 25, 1943. In the pre-independence era, Mr M Gwyer was the Chief Justice of India. The first (Indian) Chief Justice of India was Justice Harilal Jekisundas Kania.
5. From November 21, 1991, until December 12, 1991, Kamal Narain Singh served as the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice for only 17 days.
6. Justice Y. V. Chandrachud, who served for 2696 days, is India’s longest-serving Chief Justice.
7. Fatimah Beevi was India’s first female judge and the first woman Supreme Court Judge. She was born in Kerala and served as the Supreme Court of India from October 6, 1989, to April 29, 1992.

Now, this is the List of Chief Justices of India and their important facts and responsibilities. This information is significant for students who appear for various government exams.