# List of Chief Justices of India

The Chief Justice of India is the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India. As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges.
A new chief justice is appointed by the president of India with recommendations by the outgoing chief justice in consultation with other judges. The chief justice serves in the role until they reach the age of sixty-five or are removed by the constitutional process of impeachment. As per convention, the name suggested by the incumbent chief justice is almost always the next senior-most judge in the Supreme Court. This convention has been broken twice: in 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding three senior judges and in 1977, Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the chief justice superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.
A total of 51 chief justices have served in the office since the Supreme Court of India superseded the Federal Court of India in 1950. Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, the 16th chief justice, is the longest-serving chief justice, serving over seven years (February 1978 – July 1985), while Kamal Narain Singh, the 22nd chief justice, is the shortest-serving, for 17 days in 1991. As of 2024, there has been no woman who has served as chief justice of India. The current and 51st Chief Justice is Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who entered office on 11 November 2024. He will have a term of 6 months which is due to end on 13 May 2025.

## List of Chief Justices of the Federal Court of India

The Federal Court of India came into being on 1 October 1937. The seat of the court was in Delhi and it functioned until the establishment of the Supreme Court of India on 28 January 1950. The first chief justice was Sir Maurice Gwyer.
Key :
| ‡ | Acting Chief Justice |
Chief Justices of the Federal Court of India :
| No. | Name (birth–death) | Image | Start of Term | End of Term | Length of term | Parent Bar / High Court | Appointed by (Governor-General of India) |
| 1 | Sir Maurice Linford Gwyer (1878–1952) | | 1 October 1937 | 25 April 1943 | 5 years, 206 days | Inner Temple | Victor Hope |
| — | Sir Srinivas Varadachariar$^‡$ (1881–1970) | — | 25 April 1943 | 7 June 1943 | 43 days | Madras | Victor Hope |
| 2 | Sir William Patrick Spens (1885–1973) | — | 7 June 1943 | 13 August 1947 | 4 years, 68 days | Inner Temple | Victor Hope |
| 3 | Harilal Jekisundas Kania (1890–1951) | | 14 August 1947 | 26 January 1950 | 2 years, 165 days | Bombay | Louis Mountbatten |

## List of Chief Justices of India

Key :
| † | Died in office |
| ‡ | Resigned |
| No. | Name (birth–death) | Start of Term | End of Term | Length of Term | Parent High Court | Appointed by (President of India) |
| 1 | Harilal Jekisundas Kania (1890–1951) | 26 January 1950 | 6 November 1951$^†$ | 1 year, 284 days | Bombay | Rajendra Prasad |
| 2 | Mandakolathur Patanjali Sastri (1889–1963) | 7 November 1951 | 3 January 1954 | 2 years, 57 days | Madras | Rajendra Prasad |
| 3 | Mehr Chand Mahajan (1889–1967) | 4 January 1954 | 22 December 1954 | 352 days | Lahore | Rajendra Prasad |
| 4 | Bijan Kumar Mukherjea (1891–1956) | 23 December 1954 | 31 January 1956$^‡$ | 1 year, 39 days | Calcutta | Rajendra Prasad |
| 5 | Sudhi Ranjan Das (1894–1977) | 1 February 1956 | 30 September 1959 | 3 years, 241 days | Calcutta | Rajendra Prasad |
| 6 | Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha (1899–1986) | 1 October 1959 | 31 January 1964 | 4 years, 122 days | Patna | Rajendra Prasad |
| 7 | Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar (1901–1981) | 1 February 1964 | 15 March 1966 | 2 years, 42 days | Bombay | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 8 | Amal Kumar Sarkar (1901–2001) | 16 March 1966 | 29 June 1966 | 105 days | Calcutta | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 9 | Koka Subba Rao (1902–1976) | 30 June 1966 | 11 April 1967$^‡$ | 285 days | Hyderabad | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 10 | Kailas Nath Wanchoo (1903–1988) | 12 April 1967 | 24 February 1968 | 318 days | Allahabad | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 11 | Mohammad Hidayatullah (1905–1992) | 25 February 1968 | 16 December 1970 | 2 years, 294 days | Bombay | Zakir Hussain |
| 12 | Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah (1906–1991) | 17 December 1970 | 21 January 1971 | 35 days | Bombay | V. V. Giri |
| 13 | Sarv Mittra Sikri (1908–1992) | 22 January 1971 | 25 April 1973 | 2 years, 93 days | Bar Council | V. V. Giri |
| 14 | Ajit Nath Ray (1912–2009) | 26 April 1973 | 28 January 1977 | 3 years, 276 days | Calcutta | V. V. Giri |
| 15 | Mirza Hameedullah Beg (1913–1988) | 29 January 1977 | 21 February 1978 | 1 year, 24 days | Allahabad | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| 16 | Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud (1920–2008) | 22 February 1978 | 11 July 1985 | 7 years, 139 days | Bombay | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 17 | Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (1921–2017) | 12 July 1985 | 20 December 1986 | 1 year, 161 days | Gujarat | Zail Singh |
| 18 | Raghunandan Swarup Pathak (1924–2007) | 21 December 1986 | 18 June 1989$^‡$ | 2 years, 209 days | Allahabad | Zail Singh |
| 19 | Engalaguppe Seetharamiah Venkataramiah (1924–1997) | 19 June 1989 | 17 December 1989 | 181 days | Karnataka | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 20 | Sabyasachi Mukharji (1927–1990) | 18 December 1989 | 25 September 1990$^†$ | 281 days | Calcutta | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 21 | Ranganath Misra (1926–2012) | 26 September 1990 | 24 November 1991 | 1 year, 59 days | Orissa | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 22 | Kamal Narain Singh (1926–2022) | 25 November 1991 | 12 December 1991 | 17 days | Allahabad | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 23 | Madhukar Hiralal Kania (1927–2016) | 13 December 1991 | 17 November 1992 | 340 days | Bombay | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 24 | Lalit Mohan Sharma (1928–2008) | 18 November 1992 | 11 February 1993 | 85 days | Patna | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 25 | Manepalli Narayanarao Venkatachaliah (born 1929) | 12 February 1993 | 24 October 1994 | 1 year, 254 days | Karnataka | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 26 | Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi (1932–2023) | 25 October 1994 | 24 March 1997 | 2 years, 150 days | Gujarat | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 27 | Jagdish Sharan Verma (1933–2013) | 25 March 1997 | 17 January 1998 | 298 days | Madhya Pradesh | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 28 | Madan Mohan Punchhi (1933–2015) | 18 January 1998 | 9 October 1998 | 264 days | Punjab and Haryana | K. R. Narayanan |
| 29 | Adarsh Sein Anand (1936–2017) | 10 October 1998 | 31 October 2001 | 3 years, 21 days | Jammu and Kashmir | K. R. Narayanan |
| 30 | Sam Piroj Bharucha (born 1937) | 1 November 2001 | 5 May 2002 | 185 days | Bombay | K. R. Narayanan |
| 31 | Bhupinder Nath Kirpal (born 1937) | 6 May 2002 | 7 November 2002 | 185 days | Delhi | K. R. Narayanan |
| 32 | Gopal Ballav Pattanaik (born 1937) | 8 November 2002 | 18 December 2002 | 40 days | Orissa | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 33 | Vishweshwar Nath Khare (born 1939) | 19 December 2002 | 1 May 2004 | 1 year, 134 days | Allahabad | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 34 | S. Rajendra Babu (born 1939) | 2 May 2004 | 31 May 2004 | 29 days | Karnataka | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 35 | Ramesh Chandra Lahoti (1940–2022) | 1 June 2004 | 31 October 2005 | 1 year, 152 days | Madhya Pradesh | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 36 | Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal (1942–2015) | 1 November 2005 | 13 January 2007 | 1 year, 73 days | Delhi | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 37 | Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan (born 1945) | 14 January 2007 | 11 May 2010 | 3 years, 117 days | Kerala | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 38 | Sarosh Homi Kapadia (1947–2016) | 12 May 2010 | 28 September 2012 | 2 years, 139 days | Bombay | Pratibha Patil |
| 39 | Altamas Kabir (1948–2017) | 29 September 2012 | 18 July 2013 | 292 days | Calcutta | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 40 | Palanisamy Sathasivam (born 1949) | 19 July 2013 | 26 April 2014 | 281 days | Madras | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 41 | Rajendra Mal Lodha (born 1949) | 27 April 2014 | 27 September 2014 | 153 days | Rajasthan | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 42 | Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu (born 1950) | 28 September 2014 | 2 December 2015 | 1 year, 65 days | Karnataka | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 43 | Tirath Singh Thakur (born 1952) | 3 December 2015 | 3 January 2017 | 1 year, 31 days | Jammu and Kashmir | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 44 | Jagdish Singh Khehar (born 1952) | 4 January 2017 | 27 August 2017 | 235 days | Punjab and Haryana | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 45 | Dipak Misra (born 1953) | 28 August 2017 | 2 October 2018 | 1 year, 35 days | Orissa | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 46 | Ranjan Gogoi (born 1954) | 3 October 2018 | 17 November 2019 | 1 year, 45 days | Gauhati | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 47 | Sharad Arvind Bobde (born 1956) | 18 November 2019 | 23 April 2021 | 1 year, 156 days | Bombay | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 48 | Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana (born 1957) | 24 April 2021 | 26 August 2022 | 1 year, 124 days | Andhra Pradesh | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 49 | Uday Umesh Lalit (born 1957) | 27 August 2022 | 8 November 2022 | 73 days | Bar Council | Droupadi Murmu |
| 50 | Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud (born 1959) | 9 November 2022 | 10 November 2024 | 2 years, 1 day | Bombay | Droupadi Murmu |
| 51 | Sanjiv Khanna (born 1960) | 11 November 2024 | Incumbent | 0 days | Delhi | Droupadi Murmu |
* ↑ Also served as acting President of India and Vice President of India