Chief Justice Of India – Full List From 1950 To Present

The Chief Justice of India is the highest ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Chief Justice of Supreme Court holds the title of Chief Justice of India. Read on for the full list of Chief Justices of India from 1950 to present.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is appointed by the President of India. The CJI is responsible for case allocation in the Supreme Court and appointment of constitutional benches.

The 51st Chief Justice, Sanjiv Khanna, took charge on November 9, 2024.

Chief Justice of India – Quick Facts

  1. India has had 50 Chief Justices till date
  2. Sanjiv Khanna is the CJI at present.
  3. The President of India is sworn-in in the presence of the Chief Justice of India
  4. If offices of both President of India and Vice President of India are vacant, the CJI will be the Acting President of India.
  5. The Senior most judge of the Supreme Court who is considered fit to hold office is usually appointed as the CJI.

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Full List Of Chief Justice Of India

Here is the complete list of CJI from 1950 onwards along with their tenure.

NoNameTenure
1Sir Harilal Jekisundas KaniaJanuary 26, 1950 to November 06, 1951
2Mandakolathur Patanjali SastriNovember 07, 1951 to January 03, 1954
3Mehr Chand MahajanJanuary 04, 1954 to December 22, 1954
4Bijan Kumar MukherjeaDecember 23, 1954 to January 31, 1956
5Sudhi Ranjan DasFebruary 01, 1956 to September 30, 1959
6Bhuvaneshwar Prasad SinhaOctober 01, 1959 to January 31, 1964
7Pralhad Balacharya GajendragadkarFebruary 01, 1964 to March 15, 1966
8Amal Kumar SarkarMarch 16, 1966 to June 29, 1966
9Koka Subba RaoJune 30, 1966 to April 11, 1967
10Kailas Nath WanchooApril 12, 1967 to February 24, 1968
11Mohammad HidayatullahFebruary 25, 1968 to December 16, 1970
12Jayantilal Chhotalal ShahDecember 17, 1970 to January 21, 1971
13Sarv Mittra SikriJanuary 22, 1971 to April 25, 1973
14Ajit Nath RayApril 26, 1973 to January 27, 1977
15Mirza Hameedullah BegJanuary 29, 1977 to February 21, 1978
16Yeshwant Vishnu ChandrachudFebruary 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985
17Prafullachandra Natwarlal BhagwatiJuly 12, 1985 to December 20, 1986
18Raghunandan Swarup PathakDecember 21, 1986 to June 18, 1989
19Engalaguppe Seetharamiah VenkataramiahJune 19, 1989 to December 17, 1989
20Sabyasachi MukharjiDecember 18, 1989 to September 25, 1990
21Ranganath MisraSeptember 26, 1990 to November 24, 1991
22Kamal Narain SinghNovember 25, 1991 to December 12, 1991
23Madhukar Hiralal KaniaDecember 13, 1991 to November 17, 1992
24Lalit Mohan SharmaNovember 18, 1992 to February 11, 1993
25Manepalli Narayana Rao VenkatachaliahFebruary 12, 1993 to October 24, 1994
26Aziz Mushabber AhmadiOctober 25, 1994 to March 24, 1997
27Jagdish Sharan VermaMarch 25, 1997 to January 17, 1998
28Madan Mohan PunchhiJanuary 18, 1998 to October 09, 1998
29Adarsh Sein AnandOctober 10, 1998 to October 31, 2001
30Sam Piroj BharuchaNovember 01, 2001 to May 05, 2002
31Bhupinder Nath KirpalMay 06, 2002 to November 07, 2002
32Gopal Ballav PattanaikNovember 08, 2002 to December 18, 2002
33Vishweshwar Nath KhareDecember 19, 2002 to May 01, 2004
34S. Rajendra BabuMay 02, 2004 to May 31, 2004
35Ramesh Chandra LahotiJune 01, 2004 to October 31, 2005
36Yogesh Kumar SabharwalNovember 01, 2005 to January 13, 2007
37Konakuppakatil Gopinathan BalakrishnanJanuary 14, 2007 to May 12, 2010
38Sarosh Homi KapadiaMay 12, 2010 to September 28, 2012
39Altamas KabirSeptember 29, 2012 to July 18, 2013
40Palanisamy Gounder SathasivamJuly 19, 2013 to April 26, 2014
41Rajendra Mal LodhaApril 27, 2014 to September 27, 2014
42Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy DattuSeptember 28, 2014 to December 02, 2015
43Tirath Singh ThakurDecember 03, 2015 to January 03, 2017
44Jagdish Singh KheharJanuary 04, 2017 to August 27, 2017
45Dipak MisraAugust 28, 2017 to October 02, 2018
46Ranjan GogoiOctober 03, 2018 to November 17, 2019
47Sharad Arvind BobdeNovember 18, 2019 to April 23, 2021
48Nuthalapati Venkata RamanaApril 24, 2021 to 26 August 2022
49Uday Umesh Lalit 27 August 2022 to 8 November 2022
50Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud 9 November 2022 to 8 November 2024
51Sanjiv KhannaIncumbent – 9 November 2024
source: https://main.sci.gov.in/chief-justice-judges

Other Useful Information

Who was the first Chief Justice of Pre-Independence India?

Sir Maurice Gwyer held office of the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of India from October 1, 1937 to April 25, 1943.

Who is the longest serving Chief Justice of India?

Late Hon’ble Justice Y.V. Chandrachud has held the office of the Chief Justice of India for the longest period. His tenure as Chief Justice of India lasted 2696 days from February 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985.

Who has been the shortest serving Chief Justice of India.

Hon’ble Justice Kamal Narain Sign held the office of the Chief Justice of India for only 17 days from November 25, 1991 – December 12, 1991.

Who was the first Chief Justice of India post independence?

Late Hon’ble Justice Harilal Jekisundas Kania was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

How long can the Chief Justice of India hold office?

Chief Justice of India can hold office until the age of 65, unless removed earlier through an impeachment process.

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