Chief Justice of India

List of Chief Justices of India (1950-2023)

The tenure of several Chief Justice of India could be a key component that would be asked in the examinations. Thus, we have made a list all the Chief Justices with in the table mentioned below. Here is the list of all 50 Chief Justices of India with their respective tenure:

Name Tenure
Hiralal Jekisundas Kania 1950-1951
M. Patanjali Sastri 1951-1954
Mehr Chand Mahajan 1954-1956
Bijan Kumar Mukherjea 1956-1957
Sudhi Ranjan Das 1957-1962
Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha 1962-1964
P. B. Gajendragadkar 1964-1966
Amal Kumar Sarkar 1966-1967
Koka Subba Rao 1967-1970
Hidayatullah 1970-1971
S. M. Sikri 1971-1973
A. N. Ray 1973-1977
Mirza Hameedullah Beg 1977-1978
Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud 1978-1985
Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati 1985-1986
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak 1986-1989
Engalaguppe Seetharamiah Venkataramiah 1989-1990
Sabyasachi Mukharji 1991-1993
Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah 1993-1994
Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi 1994-1997
Jagdish Sharan Verma 1997-1998
Madan Mohan Punchhi 1998-1999
Adarsh Sein Anand 1999-2001
Sam Piroj Bharucha 2001-2002
Bhupinder Nath Kirpal 2002-2002
Gopal Ballav Pattanaik 2002-2004
V. N. Khare 2004-2005
Ramesh Chandra Lahoti 2005-2007
Y. K. Sabharwal 2007-2008
K. G. Balakrishnan 2008-2010
S. H. Kapadia 2010-2012
Altamas Kabir 2012-2013
P. Sathasivam 2013-2014
Rajendra Mal Lodha 2014-2015
H. L. Dattu 2015-2015
T. S. Thakur 2015-2017
Jagdish Singh Khehar 2017-2018
Dipak Misra 2018-2018
Ranjan Gogoi 2018-2019
Sharad Arvind Bobde 2019-2020
N. V. Ramana 2021-2022
Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud 2022-Present
Who is the Current Chief Justice of India?

The current Chief Justice of India is Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud. He has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of India on 9th November 2022. He is the 50th CJI and has taken over the post from Justice U.U Lalit who served a brief term as India’s 49th Chief Justice.

Significance of the Chief Justice of India Office

The Chief Justice of India is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. Article 145 of the Constitution gives the right to the Chief Justice of India to allocate the respective matters of relevance to the bench of judges.

Appointment of the Chief Justice of India

The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President of India after consulting with other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. The appointment is based on seniority and experience, and the Chief Justice of India holds office until they reach the age of 65 years or retire voluntarily.

Role and Powers of the Chief Justice of India

The Chief Justice of India has several roles and powers that are crucial for the functioning of the Indian judiciary. They are responsible for:

  • Presiding over the Supreme Court of India

  • Appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts

  • Allocating cases to different benches in the Supreme Court

  • Administering oaths of office to judges and other constitutional functionaries

  • Maintaining the independence of the judiciary

The Chief Justice of India also has the power to issue writs, hear and decide cases, and review the decisions of other courts in India.

Notable Chief Justices of India

Some of the notable Chief Justices of India who have made significant contributions to the Indian judiciary include:

  • Justice H.J. Kania, the first Chief Justice of India
  • Justice P.N. Bhagwati, who introduced the concept of Public Interest Litigation
  • Justice J.S. Verma, who contributed to the development of human rights jurisprudence in India
  • Justice R.M. Lodha, who played a key role in cleaning up the Indian cricket administration
Key Contributions of Chief Justices of India to Indian Judiciary

The Chief Justices of India have made several key contributions to the development of the Indian judiciary, including:

  • Introducing the concept of PIL (Public Interest Litigation)
  • Developing human rights jurisprudence in India
  • Promoting judicial activism and accountability
  • Protecting the rights of marginalized communities and promoting social justice