List of Chief Justices of India - wikipedia List of Chief Justices of India Contents 1 List of Chief Justices 1.1 Federal Court of India ( 1937 - 1950 ) 1.2 Supreme Court of India 2 Notes 3 See also 4 References List of Chief Justices Federal Court of India ( 1937 - 1950 ) The Federal Court came into being on 1 September 1937. The seat of the court was the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building in Delhi. It began with a Chief Justice and two puisne judges. The first Chief Justice was Sir Maurice Gwyer and the other two judges were Sir Shah Muhammad Sulaiman and M.R. Jayakar. It functioned until the establishment of the Supreme Court of India on 28 January 1950. Number Name Period of office Length of term ( days ) Bar Appointed by Sir Maurice Gwyer 000000001937 - 10 - 01 - 0000 1 October 1937 000000001943 - 04 - 25 - 0000 25 April 1943 2,032 Inner Temple The Marquess of Linlithgow Acting Sir Srinivas Vardachariar 000000001943 - 04 - 25 - 0000 25 April 1943 000000001943 - 06 - 07 - 0000 7 June 1943 43 Sir Patrick Spens 000000001943 - 06 - 07 - 0000 7 June 1943 000000001947 - 08 - 14 - 0000 14 August 1947 1,529 Inner Temple Sir H.J. Kania 000000001947 - 08 - 14 - 0000 14 August 1947 000000001950 - 01 - 26 - 0000 26 January 1950 896 Bombay High Court The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma ‡ -- Date of Resignation Supreme Court of India Since the birth of the Republic of India on 26 January 1950, 45 people have served as the Chief Justice of India ( CJI ). While H.J. Kania is the inaugural CJI, the current incumbent is Dipak Misra who was appointed as Chief Justice of India on 28 August 2017. Justice Y.V. Chandrachud is the longest serving Chief Justice ( 000000001978 - 02 - 01 - 0000 February 1978 - 000000001985 - 07 - 01 - 0000 July 1985 ). Number Name Period of office Length of term ( days ) Bar Appointed by H.J. Kania 000000001950 - 01 - 26 - 0000 26 January 1950 000000001951 - 11 - 06 - 0000 6 November 1951 649 Bombay High Court Rajendra Prasad M. Patanjali Sastri 000000001951 - 11 - 07 - 0000 7 November 1951 000000001954 - 01 - 03 - 0000 3 January 1954 788 Madras High Court Mehr Chand Mahajan 000000001954 - 01 - 04 - 0000 4 January 1954 000000001954 - 12 - 22 - 0000 22 December 1954 352 Punjab and Haryana High Court Bijan Kumar Mukherjea 000000001954 - 12 - 23 - 0000 23 December 1954 000000001956 - 01 - 31 - 0000 31 January 1956 404 Calcutta High Court 5 Sudhi Ranjan Das 000000001956 - 02 - 01 - 0000 1 February 1956 000000001959 - 09 - 30 - 0000 30 September 1959 1337 Calcutta High Court 6 Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha 000000001959 - 10 - 01 - 0000 1 October 1959 000000001964 - 01 - 31 - 0000 31 January 1964 1583 Patna High Court 7 P.B. Gajendragadkar 000000001964 - 02 - 01 - 0000 1 February 1964 000000001966 - 03 - 15 - 0000 15 March 1966 773 Bombay High Court Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 8 Amal Kumar Sarkar 000000001966 - 03 - 16 - 0000 16 March 1966 000000001966 - 06 - 29 - 0000 29 June 1966 105 Calcutta High Court 9 Koka Subba Rao 000000001966 - 06 - 30 - 0000 30 June 1966 000000001967 - 04 - 11 - 0000 11 April 1967 285 Madras High Court 10 Kailas Nath Wanchoo 000000001967 - 04 - 12 - 0000 12 April 1967 000000001968 - 02 - 24 - 0000 24 February 1968 318 Allahabad High Court 11 Mohammad Hidayatullah 000000001968 - 02 - 25 - 0000 25 February 1968 000000001970 - 12 - 16 - 0000 16 December 1970 1025 Bombay High Court Zakir Hussain 12 Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah 000000001970 - 12 - 17 - 0000 17 December 1970 000000001971 - 01 - 21 - 0000 21 January 1971 35 Bombay High Court Varahagiri Venkata Giri 13 Sarv Mittra Sikri 000000001971 - 01 - 22 - 0000 22 January 1971 000000001973 - 04 - 25 - 0000 25 April 1973 824 Lahore High Court 14 Ajit Nath Ray 000000001973 - 04 - 26 - 0000 26 April 1973 000000001977 - 01 - 27 - 0000 27 January 1977 1372 Calcutta High Court 15 Mirza Hameedullah Beg 000000001977 - 01 - 28 - 0000 28 January 1977 000000001978 - 02 - 21 - 0000 21 February 1978 389 Allahabad High Court Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 16 Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud 000000001978 - 02 - 22 - 0000 22 February 1978 000000001985 - 07 - 11 - 0000 11 July 1985 2696 Bombay High Court Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 17 Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati 000000001985 - 07 - 12 - 0000 12 July 1985 000000001986 - 12 - 20 - 0000 20 December 1986 526 Gujarat High Court Gyani Zail Singh 18 Raghunandan Swarup Pathak 000000001986 - 12 - 21 - 0000 21 December 1986 000000001989 - 06 - 18 - 0000 18 June 1989 940 Allahabad High Court 19 Engalaguppe Seetharamiah Venkataramiah 000000001989 - 06 - 19 - 0000 19 June 1989 000000001989 - 12 - 17 - 0000 17 December 1989 181 Karnataka High Court Ramaswamy Venkataraman 20 Sabyasachi Mukharji 000000001989 - 12 - 18 - 0000 18 December 1989 000000001990 - 09 - 25 - 0000 25 September 1990 281 Calcutta High Court 21 Ranganath Misra 000000001990 - 09 - 26 - 0000 26 September 1990 000000001991 - 11 - 24 - 0000 24 November 1991 424 Odisha High Court 22 Kamal Narain Singh 000000001991 - 11 - 25 - 0000 25 November 1991 000000001991 - 12 - 12 - 0000 12 December 1991 17 Allahabad High Court 23 Madhukar Hiralal Kania 000000001991 - 12 - 13 - 0000 13 December 1991 000000001992 - 11 - 17 - 0000 17 November 1992 340 Bombay High Court 24 Lalit Mohan Sharma 000000001992 - 11 - 18 - 0000 18 November 1992 000000001993 - 02 - 11 - 0000 11 February 1993 85 Patna High Court Shankar Dayal Sharma 25 Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah 000000001993 - 02 - 12 - 0000 12 February 1993 000000001994 - 10 - 24 - 0000 24 October 1994 619 Karnataka High Court 26 Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi 000000001994 - 10 - 25 - 0000 25 October 1994 000000001997 - 03 - 24 - 0000 24 March 1997 881 Gujarat High Court 27 Jagdish Sharan Verma 000000001997 - 03 - 25 - 0000 25 March 1997 000000001998 - 01 - 17 - 0000 17 January 1998 298 Madhya Pradesh High Court 28 Madan Mohan Punchhi 000000001998 - 01 - 18 - 0000 18 January 1998 000000001998 - 10 - 09 - 0000 9 October 1998 264 Punjab and Haryana High Court Kocheril Raman Narayanan 29 Adarsh Sein Anand 000000001998 - 10 - 10 - 0000 10 October 1998 000000002001 - 10 - 31 - 0000 31 October 2001 1,117 Jammu and Kashmir High Court 30 Sam Piroj Bharucha 000000002001 - 11 - 01 - 0000 1 November 2001 000000002002 - 05 - 05 - 0000 5 May 2002 185 Bombay High Court 31 Bhupinder Nath Kirpal 000000002002 - 05 - 06 - 0000 6 May 2002 000000002002 - 11 - 07 - 0000 7 November 2002 185 Delhi High Court 32 Gopal Ballav Pattanaik 000000002002 - 11 - 08 - 0000 8 November 2002 000000002002 - 12 - 18 - 0000 18 December 2002 40 Odisha High Court A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 33 V.N. Khare 000000002002 - 12 - 19 - 0000 19 December 2002 000000002004 - 05 - 01 - 0000 1 May 2004 499 Allahabad High Court 34 S. Rajendra Babu 000000002004 - 05 - 02 - 0000 2 May 2004 000000002004 - 05 - 31 - 0000 31 May 2004 29 Karnataka High Court 35 Ramesh Chandra Lahoti 000000002004 - 06 - 01 - 0000 1 June 2004 000000002005 - 10 - 31 - 0000 31 October 2005 517 Madhya Pradesh High Court 36 Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal 000000002005 - 11 - 01 - 0000 1 November 2005 000000002007 - 01 - 13 - 0000 13 January 2007 438 Delhi High Court 37 K.G. Balakrishnan 000000002007 - 01 - 14 - 0000 14 January 2007 000000002010 - 05 - 12 - 0000 12 May 2010 1,214 Kerala High Court 38 S.H. Kapadia 000000002010 - 05 - 12 - 0000 12 May 2010 000000002012 - 09 - 28 - 0000 28 September 2012 870 Bombay High Court Pratibha Patil 39 Altamas Kabir 000000002012 - 09 - 29 - 0000 29 September 2012 000000002013 - 07 - 18 - 0000 18 July 2013 292 Calcutta High Court Pranab Mukherjee 40 P. Sathasivam 000000002013 - 07 - 19 - 0000 19 July 2013 000000002014 - 04 - 26 - 0000 26 April 2014 281 Madras High Court 41 Rajendra Mal Lodha 000000002014 - 04 - 27 - 0000 27 April 2014 000000002014 - 09 - 27 - 0000 27 September 2014 153 Rajasthan High Court 42 H.L. Dattu 000000002014 - 09 - 28 - 0000 28 September 2014 000000002015 - 12 - 02 - 0000 2 December 2015 430 Karnataka High Court 43 T.S. Thakur 000000002015 - 12 - 03 - 0000 3 December 2015 000000002017 - 01 - 03 - 0000 3 January 2017 397 Jammu and Kashmir High Court 44 Jagdish Singh Khehar 000000002017 - 01 - 04 - 0000 4 January 2017 000000002017 - 08 - 27 - 0000 27 August 2017 236 Punjab and Haryana High Court 45 Dipak Misra 000000002017 - 08 - 28 - 0000 28 August 2017 Incumbent 43 Odisha High Court Ram Nath Kovind Notes - Date of Resignation - Date of Death See also List of current Indian chief justices List of former justices of the Supreme Court of India References Jump up ^ `` List of Retired Hon'ble Chief Justices ''. Retrieved 6 Jan 2012. Jump up ^ Also served as Acting President of India and Vice-President of India. Judiciary of India Supreme Court Supreme Court of India Chief Justice of India List of Chief Justices of India List of sitting judges High Courts High Courts of India Chief Justices of High Courts of India District Courts District Courts of India List of district courts of India Judicial Magistrate of First Class Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class Gram Nyayalayas Judicial Magistrate of Second Class Courts of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class Constitution Constitution of India Law of India Indian Penal Code Appointment of Judges National Judicial Appointments Commission Collegium System Chief Justices of the Territories of the British Empire and the United Kingdom Legend Current territory Former territory * Now a Commonwealth realm Now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations Europe Since 1234 England and Wales Since c. 1200 Scotland 1175 - 1921 Ireland 1708 -- 1757 Menorca Since 1713 Gibraltar 1763 -- 1782 Menorca 1798 -- 1802 Menorca 1800 -- 1813 Malta ( Protectorate ) 1813 -- 1964 Malta ( Colony ) 1807 -- 1890 Heligoland 1809 -- 1864 Ionian Islands 1878 -- 1960 Cyprus 1921 -- 1937 Irish Free State Since 1922 Northern Ireland North America 17th century and before 18th century 19th and 20th century 1579 New Albion 1583 -- 1907 Newfoundland 1605 -- 1979 * Saint Lucia 1607 -- 1776 Virginia Since 1619 Bermuda 1620 -- 1691 Plymouth Colony 1623 -- 1883 Saint Kitts * ( Saint Kitts & Nevis ) 1624 -- 1966 * Barbados 1625 -- 1650 Saint Croix 1627 -- 1979 * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1628 -- 1883 Nevis * ( Saint Kitts & Nevis ) 1629 -- 1691 Massachusetts Bay Colony 1632 -- 1776 Maryland since 1632 Montserrat 1632 -- 1860 Antigua * ( Antigua & Barbuda ) 1636 -- 1776 Connecticut 1636 -- 1776 Rhode Island 1637 -- 1662 New Haven Colony 1643 -- 1860 Bay Islands Since 1650 Anguilla 1655 -- 1850 Mosquito Coast ( protectorate ) 1655 -- 1962 * Jamaica 1663 -- 1712 Carolina 1664 -- 1776 New York 1665 -- 1674 and 1702 -- 1776 New Jersey Since 1666 British Virgin Islands Since 1670 Cayman Islands 1670 -- 1973 * Bahamas 1670 -- 1870 Rupert 's Land 1671 -- 1816 Leeward Islands 1674 -- 1702 East Jersey 1674 -- 1702 West Jersey 1680 -- 1776 New Hampshire 1681 -- 1776 Pennsylvania 1686 -- 1689 Dominion of New England 1691 -- 1776 Massachusetts 1701 -- 1776 Delaware 1712 -- 1776 North Carolina 1712 -- 1776 South Carolina 1713 -- 1867 Nova Scotia 1733 -- 1776 Georgia 1754 -- 1820 Cape Breton Island 1762 -- 1974 * Grenada 1763 -- 1978 Dominica 1763 -- 1873 Prince Edward Island 1763 -- 1791 Quebec 1763 -- 1783 East Florida 1763 -- 1783 West Florida 1784 -- 1867 New Brunswick 1791 -- 1841 Lower Canada 1791 -- 1841 Upper Canada Since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands 1818 -- 1846 Columbia District / Oregon Country 1833 -- 1960 Windward Islands 1833 -- 1960 Leeward Islands 1841 -- 1867 Province of Canada 1849 -- 1866 Vancouver Island 1853 -- 1863 Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands 1858 -- 1866 British Columbia 1859 -- 1870 North - Western Territory 1860 -- 1981 * British Antigua and Barbuda 1862 -- 1863 Stikine Territory 1866 -- 1871 Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1867 -- 1931 * Dominion of Canada 1871 -- 1964 British Honduras ( * Belize ) 1882 -- 1983 * Saint Kitts and Nevis 1889 -- 1962 Trinidad and Tobago 1907 -- 1949 Dominion of Newfoundland 1958 -- 1962 West Indies Federation 1. Occupied jointly with the United States. 2. In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self - government through the Statute of Westminster. See Canada 's name. 3. Gave up self - rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949. South America 1651 -- 1667 Willoughbyland ( Suriname ) 1670 -- 1688 Saint Andrew and Providence Islands 1831 -- 1966 British Guiana ( Guyana ) Since 1833 Falkland Islands Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 4. Now the San Andrés y Providencia Department of Colombia. 5. Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April -- June 1982. Africa 17th and 18th centuries 19th century 20th century Since 1658 Saint Helena 1792 -- 1961 Sierra Leone 1795 -- 1803 Cape Colony Since 1815 Ascension Island Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha 1806 -- 1910 Cape Colony 1807 -- 1808 Madeira 1810 -- 1968 Mauritius 1816 -- 1965 The Gambia 1856 -- 1910 Natal 1868 -- 1966 Basutoland ( Lesotho ) 1874 -- 1957 Gold Coast ( Ghana ) 1882 -- 1922 Egypt 1884 -- 1966 Bechuanaland ( Botswana ) 1884 -- 1960 British Somaliland 1887 -- 1897 Zululand 1890 -- 1962 Uganda 1890 -- 1963 Zanzibar ( Tanzania ) 1891 -- 1964 Nyasaland ( Malawi ) 1891 -- 1907 British Central Africa Protectorate 1893 -- 1968 Swaziland 1895 -- 1920 East Africa Protectorate 1899 -- 1956 Anglo - Egyptian Sudan 1900 -- 1914 Northern Nigeria 1900 -- 1914 Southern Nigeria 1900 -- 1910 Orange River Colony 1900 -- 1910 Transvaal Colony 1903 -- 1976 Seychelles 1906 -- 1954 Nigeria Colony 1910 -- 1931 South Africa 1914 -- 1954 Nigeria Colony and Protectorate 1915 -- 1931 South West Africa ( Namibia ) 1919 -- 1960 Cameroons ( Cameroon ) 1920 -- 1963 Kenya 1922 -- 1961 Tanganyika ( Tanzania ) 1923 -- 1965 Southern Rhodesia ( Zimbabwe ) 1924 -- 1964 Northern Rhodesia ( Zambia ) 1953 -- 1963 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1954 -- 1960 Nigeria 1979 -- 1980 Southern Rhodesia ( Zimbabwe ) 6. League of Nations mandate. 7. Self - governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 ( as Rhodesia ) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003. Asia 17th and 18th century 19th century 20th century 1685 -- 1824 Bencoolen ( Sumatra ) 1702 -- 1705 Pulo Condore 1757 - 1862 Bengal ( to 1862 ) 1862 -- 1947 Bengal ( from 1862 ) ( West Bengal ( India ) and Bangladesh ) 1762 -- 1764 Manila and Cavite 1786 -- 1946 Penang ( Malaysia ) 1795 -- 1948 Ceylon ( Sri Lanka ) 1796 -- 1965 Maldives 1812 -- 1824 Banka ( Sumatra ) and Billiton ( Sumatra ) 1819 -- 1826 British Malaya ( West Malaysia and Singapore ) 1826 -- 1946 Straits Settlements ( Malaysia and Singapore ) 1839 -- 1967 Colony of Aden 1839 -- 1842 Afghanistan 1841 -- 1997 Hong Kong 1841 -- 1946 Kingdom of Sarawak ( Malaysia ) 1848 -- 1946 Labuan ( Malaysia ) 1858 -- 1947 British India ( India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma ) Bombay Calcutta Madras North - Western Provinces / Allahabad ) 1874 -- 1963 British Borneo ( East Malaysia and Brunei ) 1879 -- 1919 Afghanistan ( protectorate ) 1882 -- 1963 British North Borneo ( Malaysia ) 1885 -- 1946 Unfederated Malay States 1888 -- 1984 Sultanate of Brunei 1891 -- 1971 Muscat and Oman protectorate 1892 -- 1971 Trucial States 1895 -- 1946 Federated Malay States 1898 -- 1930 Weihai Garrison 1907 -- 1949 Bhutan ( protectorate ) 1918 -- 1961 Kuwait protectorate 1920 -- 1932 Iraq 1921 -- 1946 Transjordan 1923 -- 1948 Palestine 1945 -- 1946 South Vietnam 1946 -- 1963 North Borneo ( Malaysia ) 1946 -- 1963 Sarawak ( Malaysia ) 1946 -- 1963 Singapore 1946 -- 1948 Malayan Union 1948 -- 1957 Federation of Malaya ( Malaysia ) Since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia ( before as part of Cyprus ) Since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory ( before as part of Mauritius and the Seychelles ) League of Nations mandate. Iraq 's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo - Iraqi Treaty Oceania 18th and 19th centuries 20th century 1788 -- 1901 New South Wales 1803 -- 1901 Tasmania 1807 -- 1863 Auckland Islands 1824 -- 1980 New Hebrides ( Vanuatu ) 1824 -- 1901 Queensland 1829 -- 1901 Western Australia 1836 -- 1901 South Australia since 1838 Pitcairn Islands 1841 -- 1907 Colony of New Zealand 1851 -- 1901 Victoria 1874 -- 1970 Fiji 1877 -- 1976 British Western Pacific Territories 1884 -- 1949 Territory of Papua 1888 -- 1901 Cook Islands 1889 -- 1948 Union Islands ( Tokelau ) 1892 -- 1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1893 -- 1978 British Solomon Islands 1900 -- 1970 Tonga ( protected state ) 1900 -- 1974 Niue 1901 -- 1942 * Commonwealth of Australia * Northern Territory 1907 -- 1953 * Dominion of New Zealand 1919 -- 1942 Nauru 1945 -- 1968 Nauru 1919 -- 1949 Territory of New Guinea 1949 -- 1975 Territory of Papua and New Guinea 9. Now part of the * Realm of New Zealand. 10. Suspended member. 11. Now Kiribati and * Tuvalu. 12. Now the * Solomon Islands. 13. Now * Papua New Guinea. Antarctica and South Atlantic Since 1658 Saint Helena Since 1815 Ascension Island Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha Since 1908 British Antarctic Territory 1841 -- 1933 Australian Antarctic Territory ( transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia ) 1841 -- 1947 Ross Dependency ( transferred to the Realm of New Zealand ) 14. Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ; Ascension Island ( 1922 -- ) and Tristan da Cunha ( 1938 -- ) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena. 15. Both claimed in 1908 ; territories formed in 1962 ( British Antarctic Territory ) and 1985 ( South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ). Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Chief_Justices_of_India&oldid=800959607 '' Categories : Indian judges Chief Justices of India Judiciary of India Hidden categories : Dts templates with deprecated parameters Talk Contents About Wikipedia हिन्दी தமிழ் Edit links This page was last edited on 16 September 2017, at 20 : 04. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who was the first cheif justice of the supreme court
Answer: H. J. Kania