Appointment: The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President. Other Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice. He may also consult other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts while appointing a judge to the Supreme Court.
Tenure: Judges of the Supreme Court can hold office up to the age of 65 years.
Qualification : Any citizen of India who has been a judge of a High Court for 5 years, or in the opinion of the President, is an eminent jurist or who has been a practicing advocate in a High Court for a period of 10 years can be nominated as a judge of the Supreme Court [Article 124(3)].
The present chief justice of India : Supreme Court Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn in on 18 November 2019 as the 47th Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind. Justice Bobde who was born on April 24, 1956, will be the 47th Chief Justice of India. Nagpur-born SA Bobde is a former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and is due to retire on April 23, 2021. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde studied in the Nagpur University. The new CJI Justice Bobde was also part of the five-judge constitution bench hearing the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Here is a full list of Chief Justices of Supreme Court in India–
Tenure: Judges of the Supreme Court can hold office up to the age of 65 years.
Qualification : Any citizen of India who has been a judge of a High Court for 5 years, or in the opinion of the President, is an eminent jurist or who has been a practicing advocate in a High Court for a period of 10 years can be nominated as a judge of the Supreme Court [Article 124(3)].
The present chief justice of India : Supreme Court Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn in on 18 November 2019 as the 47th Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind. Justice Bobde who was born on April 24, 1956, will be the 47th Chief Justice of India. Nagpur-born SA Bobde is a former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and is due to retire on April 23, 2021. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde studied in the Nagpur University. The new CJI Justice Bobde was also part of the five-judge constitution bench hearing the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Here is a full list of Chief Justices of Supreme Court in India–
No. | Chief Justices | Period of office |
1. | H. J. Kania | August, 1947 – November, 1951 |
2. | M. Patanjali Sastri | November, 1951 – January, 1954 |
3. | Mehar Chand Mahajan | January, 1954 – December, 1954 |
4. | B.K. Mukherjea | December, 1954 – January, 1956 |
5. | S.R. Das | February, 1956 – September, 1959 |
6. | B. P. Sinha | October, 1959 – January, 1964 |
7. | P.B. Gajendragadkar | February, 1964 – March, 1966 |
8. | A.K. Sarkar | March, 1966 – June, 1966 |
9. | K. Subba Rao | June, 1966 – April, 1967 |
10. | K.N. Wanchoo | April, 1967 – February, 1968 |
11. | M. Hidayatullah | February, 1968 – December, 1970 |
12. | J.C. Shah | December, 1970 – January, 1971 |
13. | S.M. Sikri | January, 1971 – April, 1973 |
14. | A.N. Ray | April, 1973 – January, 1977 |
15. | M.H. Beg | January, 1977 – February, 1978 |
16. | Y.V. Chandrachud | February, 1978 – July, 1985 |
17. | P. N. Bhagwati | July, 1985 – December, 1986 |
18. | R.S. Pathak | December, 1986 – June, 1989 |
19. | E.S. Venkataramiah | June, 1989 – December, 1989 |
20. | Sabyasachi Mukharjee | December, 1989 – September, 1990 |
21. | Ranganath Mishra | September, 1990 – November, 1991 |
22. | K.N. Singh | November, 1991 – December, 1991 |
23. | M.H. Kania | December, 1991 – November, 1992 |
24. | L.M. Sharma | November, 1992 – February, 1993 |
25. | M.N. Venkatachaliah | February, 1993 – October, 1994 |
26. | Aziz Mushabbar Ahmadi | October, 1994 – March, 1997 |
27. | J.S. Verma | March, 1997 – January, 1998 |
28. | M.M. Punchhi | January, 1998 – October, 1998 |
29. | A.S. Anand | October, 1998 – November, 2001 |
30. | S. P. Bharucha | November, 2001 – May, 2002 |
31. | Bhupinder Nath Kripal | May, 2002 – November, 2002 |
32. | Mr. G.B Pattanaik | November, 2002 – December, 2002 |
33. | Mr. V.N. Khare | December, 2002 – May, 2004 |
34. | Mr. S. Rajendra Babu | May, 2004 – June, 2004 |
35. | R. C. Lahoti | June, 2004 – 31 October, 2005 |
36. | Y. K. Sabharwal | 2 November, 2005 – 14 January, 2007 |
37. | K.G. Balakrishnan | 15 January, 2007 – 11 May, 2010 |
38. | S. H. Kapadia | 12 May, 2010 – 28 September, 2012 |
39. | Altamas Kabir | 29 September, 2012 – 18 July, 2013 |
40. | P. Sathasivam | 19 July, 2013 – 26 April, 2014 |
41. | Rajendra Mal Lodha | 27 April, 2014 – 27 September, 2014 |
42. | H. L. Dattu | 28 September, 2014 – 2 December, 2015 |
43. | T. S. Thakur | 3 December, 2015 – 3 January, 2017 |
44. | Jagdish Singh Khehar | 4 January, 2017 – 27 August 2017 |
45. | Dipak Misra | 28 August 2017 – 1 October 2018 |
46. | Ranjan Gogoi | 2 October 2018 – 17 November 2019 |
47. | Sharad Arvind Bobde | 18 November 2019 – Till Date |