Surya Kant

Justice Surya Kant (born 10 February 1962) is a Judge of the Supreme Court of India and the former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. He is also former Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Surya Kant was born in 1962 in Hisar district of Haryana, in a middle class family. He graduated from the Government Post Graduate College, Hisar in 1981 and earned LL.B from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak in 1984. He stood First Class First in LL.M from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra in 2011.

Surya Kant started his law practice at the Hisar district court of Haryana in 1984 and later shifted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh in 1985. He represented multiple Universities, Boards, Corporations, Banks and various other Government bodies in the High Court. He was appointed as the youngest Advocate general of Haryana on 7 July 2000 and was designated as Senior Advocate in March 2001. Surya Kant held the office of Advocate General till his elevation as a permanent Judge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 9 January 2004. He was also nominated as a member of the National Legal Services Authority on 23 February 2007 for two consecutive terms. Justice Surya Kant organised and attended several prestigious conferences. On 5 October 2018, he took oath as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. On 9 May 2019, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi recommended his elevation to the Supreme Court of India. On 24 May 2019, Justice Surya Kant took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.