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The Chief Justice of India is the Head of the Supreme Court of India. The 48th and Current Chief Justice of India is N. V. Ramana. After the retirement of N. V. Ramana as Chief Justice of India, Justice U. U. Lalit will take oath as the New Chief Justice of India on 27th August 2022.
Candidates who are preparing for the Government Teaching Exam 2022 must know these facts like the back of their hands. Knowing and learning about Current Affairs and General Awareness is an essential part of the preparation of the Teaching aspirants. One such popular topic is List of Chief Justice of India. In the following article, the candidates will find everything they need to know about the Chief Justice of India.
Who is the Chief Justice of India?
The Chief Justice of India is the head of the Supreme Court of India along with the judiciary system in India. In other words, the CJI is the highest ranking officer in the judicial system in India. The CJI is appointed by the President from the Bench of Supreme Court Judges on the basis of their seniority. The CJI is responsible for maintaining the functioning of the Supreme Court such as the appointment of cases, maintaining the roster and so on.
Responsibilities of Chief Justice of India
The Chief Justice of India is responsible for various important functioning of the Judicial System of India. Some of the main responsibilities of the CJI are mentioned below.
- The CJI Is responsible for allocating cases of cases to the Supreme Court Judges.
- CJI appoints judicial and constitutional benches to deal with important legal matters.
- The Supreme Court Judges are appointed by the President of India after consultation with the CJI.
- The outgoing CJI often recommends the next appointed CJI to the President as per the seniority principle.
- The CJI appoints other court officials as well
Chief Justice of India List Name
Check out the following table to get the complete list of All Chief Justice of India since independence. In the following table, the candidates will find the Chief Justice of India List Name along with their tenure, high courts and Presidents under whom they served.
| Name | Tenure | High Court | President |
| Harilal Jekisundas Kania
(1890–1951) |
26th January 1950
To 6th November 1951 |
Bombay High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
| Mandakolathur Patanjali Sastri
(1889–1963) |
7th November 1951
To 3rd January 1954 |
Madras High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
| Mehr Chand Mahajan
(1889–1967) |
4th January 1954
To 22 December 1954 |
Lahore High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
| Bijan Kumar Mukherjea
(1891–1956) |
23rd December 1954
To 31st January 1956 |
Calcutta High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
| Sudhi Ranjan Das
(1894–1977) |
1st February 1956
To 30th September 1959 |
Calcutta High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
| Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha
(1899–1986) |
1st October 1959
To 31st January 1964 |
Patna High Court | Rajendra Prasad |
| Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar
(1901–1981) |
1st February 1964
To 15th March 1966 |
Bombay High Court | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Amal Kumar Sarkar
(1901–2001) |
16th March 1966
To 29th June 1966 |
Calcutta High Court | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Koka Subba Rao
(1902–1976) |
30th June 1966
To 11th April 1967 |
Madras High Court | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Kailas Nath Wanchoo
(1903–1988) |
12th April 1967
To 24th February 1968 |
Allahabad High Court | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Mohammad Hidayatullah
(1905–1992) |
25th February 1968
To 16th December 1970 |
Bombay High Court | Zakir Husain |
| Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah
(1906–1991) |
17th December 1970
To 21st January 1971 |
Bombay High Court | V. V. Giri |
| Sarv Mittra Sikri
(1908–1992) |
22nd January 1971
To 25th April 1973 |
Lahore High Court | V. V. Giri |
| Ajit Nath Ray
(1912–2009) |
26th April 1973
To 27th January 1977 |
Calcutta High Court | V. V. Giri |
| Mirza Hameedullah Beg
(1913–1988) |
29th January 1977
To 21st February 1978 |
Allahabad High Court | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud
(1920–2008) |
22nd February 1978
To 11th July 1985 |
Bombay High Court | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati
(1921–2017) |
12th July 1985
To 20th December 1986 |
Gujarat High Court | Zail Singh |
| Raghunandan Swarup Pathak
(1924–2007) |
21st December 1986
To 18th June 1989 |
Allahabad High Court | Zail Singh |
| E. S. Venkataramiah
(1924–1997) |
19th June 1989
To 17th December 1989 |
Karnataka High Court | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Sabyasachi Mukharji
(1927–1990) |
18th December 1989
To 25th September 1990 |
Calcutta High Court | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Ranganath Misra
(1926–2012) |
26th September 1990
To 24th November 1991 |
Orissa High Court | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Kamal Narain Singh
(1926–) |
25th November 1991
To 12th December 1991 |
Allahabad High Court | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Madhukar Hiralal Kania
(1927–2016) |
13th December 1991
To 17th November 1992 |
Bombay High Court | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Lalit Mohan Sharma
(1928–2008) |
18th November 1992
To 11th February 1993 |
Patna High Court | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| M. N. Rao Venkatachaliah
(1929–) |
12th February 1993
To 24th October 1994 |
Karnataka High Court | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi
(1932–) |
25th October 1994
To 24th March 1997 |
Gujarat High Court | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Jagdish Sharan Verma
(1933–2013) |
25th March 1997
To 17th January 1998 |
Madhya Pradesh High Court | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Madan Mohan Punchhi
(1933–2015) |
18th January 1998
To 9th October 1998 |
Punjab and Haryana High Court | K. R. Narayanan |
| Adarsh Sein Anand
(1936–2017) |
10th October 1998
To 31st October 2001 |
Jammu and Kashmir High Court | K. R. Narayanan |
| Sam Piroj Bharucha
(1937–) |
1st November 2001
To 5th May 2002 |
Bombay High Court | K. R. Narayanan |
| Bhupinder Nath Kirpal
(1937–) |
6th May 2002
To 7th November 2002 |
Delhi High Court | K. R. Narayanan |
| Gopal Ballav Pattanaik
(1937–) |
8th November 2002
To 18th December 2002 |
Orissa High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| Vishweshwar Nath Khare
(1939–) |
19th December 2002
To 1st May 2004 |
Allahabad High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| S. Rajendra Babu
(1939–) |
2nd May 2004
To 31st May 2004 |
Karnataka High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| Ramesh Chandra Lahoti
(1940–2022) |
1st June 2004
To 31st October 2005 |
Madhya Pradesh High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal
(1942–2015) |
1st November 2005
To 13th January 2007 |
Delhi High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| K. G. Balakrishnan
(1945–) |
14th January 2007
To 12th May 2010 |
Kerala High Court | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| Sarosh Homi Kapadia
(1947–2016) |
12th May 2010
To 28th September 2012 |
Bombay High Court | Pratibha Patil |
| Altamas Kabir
(1948–2017) |
29th September 2012
To 18th July 2013 |
Calcutta High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
| P. Sathasivam
(1949–) |
19th July 2013
To 26th April 2014 |
Madras High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Rajendra Mal Lodha
(1949–) |
27th April 2014
To 27th September 2014 |
Rajasthan High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu
(1950–) |
28th September 2014
To 2nd December 2015 |
Karnataka High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Tirath Singh Thakur
(1952–) |
3rd December 2015
To 3rd January 2017 |
Jammu and Kashmir High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Jagdish Singh Khehar
(1952–) |
4th January 2017
To 27th August 2017 |
Punjab and Haryana High Court | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Dipak Misra
(1953–) |
28th August 2017
To 2nd October 2018 |
Orissa High Court | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Ranjan Gogoi
(1954–) |
3rd October 2018
To 17th November 2019 |
Guwahati High Court | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Sharad Arvind Bobde
(1956–) |
18th November 2019
To 23th April 2021 |
Bombay High Court | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana
(1957–) |
24th April 2021
To Present |
Andhra Pradesh High Court | Ram Nath Kovind |
Current Chief Justice of India
The Current Chief Justice of India, Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, is the 48th Chief Justice of India. Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana was appointed as the New Chief Justice of India on 24th April 2021. Earlier, he was a Supreme Court Judge and prior to that he was the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He was also the acting Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
New Chief Justice of India
Justice U. U. Lalit will become the new Chief Justice of India once he takes his oath on 27th August 2022. He will be the 49th Chief Justice of India and he is about to serve one of the shortest tenures as the Chief Justice of India. His tenure will be of less than three months as he is set to retire on 8th November 2022. He is the second person to reach the top of the judicial system after being directly elevated from the bar.
All Chief Justice of India: FAQs
Q: Who was the first Chief Justice of India?
A: Harilal Jekisundas Kania was the first Chief Justice of India.
Q: Who was the first Women Judge of the Supreme Court of India?
A: Fatima Beevi was the first Women Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Q: Who is the current Chief Justice of India?
A: Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana is currently Chief Justice of India
Q: Who will be the 49th Chief Justice of India?
A: Justice U. U. Lalit will take oath as the New Chief Justice of India on 27th August 2022.
