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 50th Chief Justice, Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, took charge on November 9, 2022.
Chief Justice of India – Quick Facts
- India has had 50 Chief Justices till date
- Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud is the CJI at present.
- The President of India is sworn-in in the presence of the Chief Justice of India
- If offices of both President of India and Vice President of India are vacant, the CJI will be the Acting President of India.
- 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.
| No. | Name | Tenure |
| 1 | Sir Harilal Jekisundas Kania | January 26, 1950 to November 06, 1951 |
| 2 | Mandakolathur Patanjali Sastri | November 07, 1951 to January 03, 1954 |
| 3 | Mehr Chand Mahajan | January 04, 1954 to December 22, 1954 |
| 4 | Bijan Kumar Mukherjea | December 23, 1954 to January 31, 1956 |
| 5 | Sudhi Ranjan Das | February 01, 1956 to September 30, 1959 |
| 6 | Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha | October 01, 1959 to January 31, 1964 |
| 7 | Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar | February 01, 1964 to March 15, 1966 |
| 8 | Amal Kumar Sarkar | March 16, 1966 to June 29, 1966 |
| 9 | Koka Subba Rao | June 30, 1966 to April 11, 1967 |
| 10 | Kailas Nath Wanchoo | April 12, 1967 to February 24, 1968 |
| 11 | Mohammad Hidayatullah | February 25, 1968 to December 16, 1970 |
| 12 | Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah | December 17, 1970 to January 21, 1971 |
| 13 | Sarv Mittra Sikri | January 22, 1971 to April 25, 1973 |
| 14 | Ajit Nath Ray | April 26, 1973 to January 27, 1977 |
| 15 | Mirza Hameedullah Beg | January 29, 1977 to February 21, 1978 |
| 16 | Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud | February 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985 |
| 17 | Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati | July 12, 1985 to December 20, 1986 |
| 18 | Raghunandan Swarup Pathak | December 21, 1986 to June 18, 1989 |
| 19 | Engalaguppe Seetharamiah Venkataramiah | June 19, 1989 to December 17, 1989 |
| 20 | Sabyasachi Mukharji | December 18, 1989 to September 25, 1990 |
| 21 | Ranganath Misra | September 26, 1990 to November 24, 1991 |
| 22 | Kamal Narain Singh | November 25, 1991 to December 12, 1991 |
| 23 | Madhukar Hiralal Kania | December 13, 1991 to November 17, 1992 |
| 24 | Lalit Mohan Sharma | November 18, 1992 to February 11, 1993 |
| 25 | Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah | February 12, 1993 to October 24, 1994 |
| 26 | Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi | October 25, 1994 to March 24, 1997 |
| 27 | Jagdish Sharan Verma | March 25, 1997 to January 17, 1998 |
| 28 | Madan Mohan Punchhi | January 18, 1998 to October 09, 1998 |
| 29 | Adarsh Sein Anand | October 10, 1998 to October 31, 2001 |
| 30 | Sam Piroj Bharucha | November 01, 2001 to May 05, 2002 |
| 31 | Bhupinder Nath Kirpal | May 06, 2002 to November 07, 2002 |
| 32 | Gopal Ballav Pattanaik | November 08, 2002 to December 18, 2002 |
| 33 | Vishweshwar Nath Khare | December 19, 2002 to May 01, 2004 |
| 34 | S. Rajendra Babu | May 02, 2004 to May 31, 2004 |
| 35 | Ramesh Chandra Lahoti | June 01, 2004 to October 31, 2005 |
| 36 | Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal | November 01, 2005 to January 13, 2007 |
| 37 | Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan | January 14, 2007 to May 12, 2010 |
| 38 | Sarosh Homi Kapadia | May 12, 2010 to September 28, 2012 |
| 39 | Altamas Kabir | September 29, 2012 to July 18, 2013 |
| 40 | Palanisamy Gounder Sathasivam | July 19, 2013 to April 26, 2014 |
| 41 | Rajendra Mal Lodha | April 27, 2014 to September 27, 2014 |
| 42 | Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu | September 28, 2014 to December 02, 2015 |
| 43 | Tirath Singh Thakur | December 03, 2015 to January 03, 2017 |
| 44 | Jagdish Singh Khehar | January 04, 2017 to August 27, 2017 |
| 45 | Dipak Misra | August 28, 2017 to October 02, 2018 |
| 46 | Ranjan Gogoi | October 03, 2018 to November 17, 2019 |
| 47 | Sharad Arvind Bobde | November 18, 2019 to April 23, 2021 |
| 48 | Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana | April 24, 2021 to 26 August 2022 |
| 49 | Uday Umesh Lalit | 27 August 2022 to 8 November 2022 |
| 50 | Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud | Incumbent – 9 November 2022 |
Other Useful Information
- List Of Chief Ministers Of Andhra Pradesh From 1956 To 2020
- Chief Ministers Of Bihar From 1952 To 2020
- Chief Ministers Of Karnataka From 1947 To 2020
- Chief Ministers Of Kerala List
- List Of Education Ministers Of Kerala Since 1957
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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