Bhubaneswar: The independent India has seen as many as 51 Chief justices so far. The average tenure of Chief justices in India has been estimated at around 1.5 years, though father of 50th CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice YV Chandrachud has the record of serving as CJI for a long tenure of 7 year 3months.
As of date, India has seen as many as 4 CJIs who had tenure of 17 days to 43 days. The list of CJIs having shortest tenure is given below.
- Justice Kamal Narain Singh: Appointed as Chief Justice of India on 25.11.1991. Retired on 12.12.1991. His tenure lasted only 17 days.
- Justice Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah: Appointed as Chief Justice of India on 17.12.1970.Retired on 21.01.1971. He has a tenure of 36 days.
- Justice Gopal Ballav Patnaik: from Odisha, was appointed on Nov 8, 2022 and retired on December 19, 2002. He had a CJI tenure of 43 days.
- Justice S Rajendra Babu: Appointed as the Chief Justice of India on 02-05-2004. Retired on 01-06-2004. He had a tenure of 31 days
The country has not witnessed such a short spanned CJI tenure since 2004. However, in 2027, India will again witness a CJI for tenure of 36-days only. The CJI will have the 3rd shortest tenure in SC history. Here is the list of CJIs India will see till 2031, based on the current seniority position of judges in the Apex court.
Justice B.R. Gavai
Justice BR Gavai will succeed CJI Sanjiv Khanna on May 14, 2025 for a term of little over 6 months, till November 23rd, 2025. He was elevated to the SC from the Bombay HC in May 2019. Justice Gavai is the first Scheduled Caste Judge to serve at the Supreme Court since Justice KG Balakrishnan’s retirement in 2010.
Justice Surya Kant
Justice Surya Kant will succeed Justice BR Gavai and serve as the CJI for 1.2 years from November 24th, 2025 to his retirement on February 9th, 2027. He was elevated to the SC in May, 2019. Interestingly, he superseded 11 judges more senior at the time of his appointment. The SC Collegium admitted to recommending his name over others to ensure representation from his parent High Court of Punjab and Haryana.
Justice Vikram Nath
In the CJI succession row, Justice Vikram Nath will occupy the office of the Chief Justice from February 7, 2027 to September 23, 2027. His tenure will span nearly 8 months. He was elevated to the SC in August 2021. His parent HC is the Allahabad HC.
Justice B.V. Nagarathna
In the CJI seniority row, Justice BV Nagarathna will succeed Justice Vikram Nath. She will become the first woman Chief Justice of India. However, her tenure will span only 36 days from September 24, 2027 to October 29, 2027. She was elevated to the SC in August 2021 from the Karnataka HC.
Justice P.S. Narasimha
Justice PS Narasimha will adorn the next CJI chair after Justice Ngarathna’s superannuation. Justice Narasimha will be the 3rd SC Judge directly elevated from the Bar to become the Chief Justice, after CJIs SM Sikri and UU Lalit.
He was elevated to the SC in August 2021. He will assume office on October 30th, 2027 for a little over 6 months till May 3rd, 2028.
Justice J.B. Pardiwala
Justice Pardiwala will assume the office of CJI on May 3, 2028. He will serve a tenure of 2 years and 3 months as CJI till August 11, 2030. He is the 4th Parsi Judge of the SC and was elevated from the Gujarat HC on May 9th, 2022. He will be the only CJI on this list to hold the office for at least 2 years.
Justice K.V. Viswanathan
In the seniority list, Justice KV Viswanathan will become the 4th SC judge directly elevated from the Bar to become the CJI in August, 2030. He will serve as CJI for close to 10 months till his retirement on May 25, 2031.
