List of Chief Justice of India (Updated 2022) - Download PDF

Before we get into the List of Chief Justice of India, Let us Give a Quick Introduction about him.

The Chief Justice of India heads the Supreme Court and is responsible for the allocation of cases and the appointment of constitutional benches that deal with important matters of law. Article 145 of the Constitution Empowers the Chief Justice of India to assign relevant matters to a Bench of Judges.

There are a total of 49 Chief Justices of India who have served since the establishment of the Supreme Court of India in 1950, which replaced the Federal Court of India. The current and 49th Chief Justice of India is Uday Umesh Lalit, who entered office on 27 August 2022.

It is imperative for the candidates preparing for various government exams to know about the Chief Justice of India as the questions based on CJI are asked under the Static GK part of the General Awareness section.

Federal Court of India

The Federal Court of India came into existence on 1 October 1937. The seat of the court was the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament House in Delhi. It started with a Chief Justice and two judges. It functioned till the establishment of the Supreme Court of India on 28 January 1950.

No.	Name	Term In	Term Out	Bar	Governor-General
1	Sir Maurice Linford Gwyer (1878–1952)	1 Oct 1937	25 Apr 1943‡	Inner Temple	The Marquess of Linlithgow
	Sir Srinivas Varadachariar (Acting)	25 Apr 1943	7 Jun 1943	Madras High Court	The Marquess of Linlithgow
2	Sir William Patrick Spens (1885–1973)	7 Jun 1943	14 Aug 1947	Inner Temple	The Marquess of Linlithgow
3	Hiralal Jekisundas Kania (1890–1951)	14 Aug 1947	26 Jan 1950	Bombay High Court	The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma

Facts about the Chief Justice of India

• The President of India appoints the Chief Justice of India and can hold office till the age of 65 years.
• The Chief Justice of India can be removed only through the process of impeachment by the Parliament.
• Yashwant Vishnu Chandrachud, the 16th Chief Justice of India, is the longest-serving Chief Justice, serving 7 years, 139 days (22 February 1978 – 11 July 1985).
• The 22nd Chief Justice, Kamal Narayan Singh, is the shortest serving Chief Justice of India for 17 days (25 November 1991 – 12 December 1991).
• 8th Chief Justice Amal Kumar Sarkar was the longest-serving Chief Justice of India, passed away at the age of 100.
• Sir HJ Kania (1st) the shortest living Chief Justice of India, died in office at the age of 61.
• Sir HJ Kania, the first Chief Justice, was the uncle of the 23rd Chief Justice, MH Kania.
• Ranganath Mishra, 21st Chief Justice, was the uncle of 45th Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
• 46th Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi K.C. Gogoi, former Chief Minister of Assam.
• Mo. The 11th Chief Justice of India, Hidayatullah, being a Muslim, was the first Chief Justice of India from the minority community.
• KG Balakrishnan, 37th Chief Justice, was the first Chief Justice of the Dalit community.
• JS Kehar, 44th Chief Justice, was the first Chief Justice of India from the Sikh community.
• 30th Chief Justice Sam Piroj Bharucha was the first Chief Justice of the Parsi community.
• It is generally observed that a Chief Justice retires on his birthday.
• Five Chief Justices, A.N. Ray (14th), P.N. Bhagwati (17th), Kamal Narayan Singh (22nd), M. Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah (25th) and A.M. Ahmadi (26th) is a non-politician (between 90 and 99 years of age).
• The next seven Chief Justices can be predicted on the basis of tradition of seniority.

Chief Justice of India

Since the birth of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950, 49 judges have served as the Chief Justice of India. HJ Kania was the inaugural Chief Justice.

No.	Chief Justice	Term In	Term Out	Bar	President
49	Uday Umesh Lalit (1957–)	27 Aug 2022	~	Bar Council of India	Droupadi Murmu
48	Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana (1957–)	24 Apr 2021	26 Aug 2022	Andhra Pradesh HC	Ram Nath Kovind
47	Sharad Arvind Bobde (1956–)	18 Nov 2019	23 Apr 2021	Bombay HC	Ram Nath Kovind
46	Ranjan Gogoi (1954–)	3 Oct  2018	17 Nov 2019	Guwahati HC	Ram Nath Kovind
45	Dipak Misra (1953–)	28 Aug 2017	2 Oct   2018	Orissa HC	Ram Nath Kovind
44	Jagdish Singh Khehar (1952–)	4 Jan   2017	27 Aug 2017	Punjab & Haryana HC	Pranab Mukherjee
43	Tirath Singh Thakur (1952–)	3 Dec  2015	3 Jan    2017	Jammu & Kashmir HC	Pranab Mukherjee
42	Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu (1950–)	28 Sep 2014	2 Dec   2015	Karnataka HC	Pranab Mukherjee
41	Rajendra Mal Lodha (1949–)	27 Apr 2014	27 Sep 2014	Rajasthan HC	Pranab Mukherjee
40	P. Sathasivam (1949–)	19 Jul 2013	26 Apr 2014	Madras HC	Pranab Mukherjee
39	Altamas Kabir (1948–2017)	29 Sep 2012	18 Jul   2013	Calcutta HC	Pranab Mukherjee
38	Sarosh Homi Kapadia (1947–2016)	12 May 2010	28 Sep 2012	Bombay HC	Pratibha Patil
37	K. G. Balakrishnan (1945–)	14 Jan 2007	11 May 2010	Kerala HC	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
36	Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal (1942–2015)	1 Nov 2005	13 Jan  2007	Delhi HC	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
35	Ramesh Chandra Lahoti (1940–2022)	1 Jun  2004	31 Oct 2005	Madhya Pradesh HC	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
34	S. Rajendra Babu (1939–)	2 May 2004	31 May 2004	Karnataka HC	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
33	Vishweshwar Nath Khare (1939–)	19 Dec 2002	1 May  2004	Allahabad HC	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
32	Gopal Ballav Pattanaik (1937–)	8 Nov 2002	18 Dec 2002	Orissa HC	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
31	Bhupinder Nath Kirpal (1937–)	6 May 2002	7 Nov  2002	Delhi HC	K. R. Narayanan
30	Sam Piroj Bharucha (1937–)	1 Nov 2001	5 May  2002	Bombay HC	K. R. Narayanan
29	Adarsh Sein Anand (1936–2017)	10 Oct 1998	31 Oct 2001	Jammu & Kashmir HC	K. R. Narayanan
28	Madan Mohan Punchhi (1933–2015)	18 Jan 1998	9 Oct   1998	Punjab & Haryana HC	K. R. Narayanan
27	Jagdish Sharan Verma (1933–2013)	25 Mar 1997	17 Jan  1998	Madhya Pradesh HC	Shankar Dayal Sharma
26	Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi (1932–)	25 Oct 1994	24 Mar 1997	Gujarat HC	Shankar Dayal Sharma
25	M. N. Rao Venkatachaliah (1929–)	12 Feb 1993	24 Oct 1994	Karnataka HC	Shankar Dayal Sharma
24	Lalit Mohan Sharma (1928–2008)	18 Nov 1992	11 Feb 1993	Patna HC	Shankar Dayal Sharma
23	Madhukar Hiralal Kania (1927–2016)	13 Dec 1991	17 Nov 1992	Bombay HC	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
22	Kamal Narain Singh (1926–)	25 Nov 1991	12 Dec 1991	Allahabad HC	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
21	Ranganath Misra (1926–2012)	26 Sep 1990	24 Nov 1991	Orissa HC	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
20	Sabyasachi Mukharji (1927–1990)	18 Dec 1989	25 Sep 1990+	Calcutta HC	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
19	E. S. Venkataramiah (1924–1997)	19 Jun 1989	17 Dec 1989	Karnataka HC	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
18	Raghunandan Swarup Pathak (1924–2007)	21 Dec 1986	18 Jun 1989+	Allahabad HC	Zail Singh
17	Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (1921–2017)	12 Jul 1985	20 Dec 1986	Gujarat HC	Zail Singh
16	Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud (1920–2008)	22 Feb 1978	11 Jul   1985	Bombay HC	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
15	Mirza Hameedullah Beg (1913–1988)	29 Jan 1977	21 Feb 1978	Allahabad HC	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
14	Ajit Nath Ray (1912–2009)	26 Apr 1973	28 Jan  1977	Calcutta HC	V. V. Giri
13	Sarv Mittra Sikri (1908–1992)	22 Jan 1971	25 Apr 1973	Bar Council of India	V. V. Giri
12	Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah (1906–1991)	17 Dec 1970	21 Jan  1971	Bombay HC	V. V. Giri
11	Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992)	25 Feb 1968	16 Dec 1970	Bombay HC	Zakir Husain
10	Kailas Nath Wanchoo (1903–1988)	12 Apr 1967	24 Feb 1968	Allahabad HC	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
9	Koka Subba Rao (1902–1976)	30 Jun 1966	11 Apr 1967+	Madras HC	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
8	Amal Kumar Sarkar (1901–2001)	16 Mar 1966	29 Jun 1966	Calcutta HC	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
7	Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar (1901–1981)	1 Feb 1964	15 Mar 1966	Bombay HC	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
6	Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha (1899–1986)	1 Oct 1959	31 Jan  1964	Patna HC	Rajendra Prasad
5	Sudhi Ranjan Das (1894–1977)	1 Feb  1956	30 Sep 1959	Calcutta HC	Rajendra Prasad
4	Bijan Kumar Mukherjea (1891–1956)	23 Dec 1954	31 Jan 1956+	Calcutta HC	Rajendra Prasad
3	Mehr Chand Mahajan (1889–1967)	4 Jan  1954	22 Dec 1954	Lahore HC	Rajendra Prasad
2	Mandakolathur Patanjali Sastri (1889–1963)	7 Nov 1951	3 Jan    1954	Madras HC	Rajendra Prasad
1	Hiralal Jekisundas Kania (1890–1951)	26 Jan 1950	6 Nov 1951+	Bombay HC	Rajendra Prasad

Facts about Uday Umesh Lalit

• Uday Umesh Lalit (born 9 November 1957) is the 49th and current Chief Justice of India, having previously served as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• Justice Lalit is one of the six senior advocates who have been directly elevated to the Supreme Court.
• Uday U. Lalit was born in U.R. Lalit, a former Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court Nagpur Bench and a senior advocate practicing in the Supreme Court of India.
• He is a law graduate from Government Law College, Mumbai.
• Lalit enrolled as an advocate in the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in June 1983.
• He served as advocate M.A. Rane, who was considered a proponent of radical humanistic ideology and believed that social work was as important as the creation of a solid legal practice.
• Uday Umesh Lalit shifted his practice to Delhi in 1985 and joined the chamber of Senior Advocate Pravin H. Parekh. From 1986 to 1992, Lalit worked with Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India.
• On 3 May 1992, Lalit qualified and was registered as an Advocate-on-Record in the Supreme Court.
• In 2011, a Supreme Court bench of Justices GS Singhvi and Ashok Kumar Ganguly appointed Lalit as Special Public Prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2G spectrum cases, observing that "in the interest of fair prosecution of the case, the U.N. The appointment of U. Lalit is very appropriate."
• On 29 April 2004, Lalit was designated as a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court.
• On 10 August 2022, the President of India Draupadi Murmu appointed him as the 49th Chief Justice of India.
• He was sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on 27 August 2022 by President Draupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Uday Umesh Lalit is the second person directly from the bar to be appointed as the Chief Justice of India.

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