List of Chief Justices of India Since 1950 Till Date

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India / the Chief Justice of India is the highest Judicial Position in India.


Appointment of Chief Justice of India:

Under Article 24 of the Constitution of India, the Chief Justice of India/Supreme Court of India is appointed by the President of India.

Generally, the Senior Most Justice of Supreme Court of India will be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India/Chief Justice of India.

The Powers and  Responsibilites of the Chief Justice of India:
The Chief Justice of India  is responsible for:    

• Maintenance of the roster of the Supreme Court of India,
• Appointment of court officials,
• General and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court of India,
• Allocation of cases to the other judges of the Supreme Court of India and the other judges  are bound to refer the matter back to the Chief Justice, in case they require the matter to be looked into by a bench of higher strength, and
• Appointment of constitutional benches to deal with important matters of law.

The Chief Justice of India shall act as the President of India in the event of the offices of both the President and the Vice President being vacant.

Retirement /Removal of Chief Justice of India:

Under Article 124(4) of Constitution of India the Chief Justice of India will retire on completion of 65 years of age.

The Chief Justice of India can be removed on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity, through a process of impeachment by both the houses of theParliament of India, by an order of the President of India, after addressing in both the  houses and voting by the members of the Parliament and by a two-third -majority decision in each the house of the Parliament of India.

Following is the list of the Chief Justices of India Since 1950:
Name of the Chief Justice/From/To

1. H. J. Kania /26th January 1950 /6th November 1951        
2. M. Patanjali Sastri /7th November 1951/3rd January 1954        
3. Mehr Chand Mahajan /4th January  1954/ 22nd December 1954             
4. Bijan Kumar Mukherjee /23rd December 1954/ 31st January  1956
5. Sudhi Ranjan Das /1st     February 1956 / 30th September 1959    
6. Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha/1st October 1959 / 31st     January 1964    
7. Padma Vibhushan-P. B. Gajendragadkar/ 1st February 1964 /15th March 1966    
8. Amal Kumar Sarkar / 16th March 16, 1966 / 29th June 1966     105 days    
9. Koka Subba Rao/ 30th June 1966 /11th April 1967
10. Kailas Nath Wanchoo / 12th April 1967/ 24th February 24, 1968
11. Mohammad Hidayatullah  /25th February 1968 /16th      December 1970-  (Hidayatullah had been the Acting President of India From 20th  July 1969 To  24th  August 1969 and the Vice-President of India From 20th  August 1977 To  20th  August 1982)
12. Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah /17th December 1970  /21st January  1971    
13. Sarv Mittra Sikri / 22nd January 1971 /25th April 1973    
14. Ajit Nath Ray     / 26th April 1973/27th      January 1977    
15. Padma Vibhushan- Mirza Hameedullah Beg/28th     January 1977/21st February 21 1978    
16. Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud /22nd February 1978 /11th July  1985    
17. Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati / 12th July 1985/ 20th      December 1986    
18. Raghunandan Swarup Pathak/21st December 1986/ 18th June 1989
19. Engalaguppe Seetharamiah Venkataramiah/19th June 1989/ 17th December 1989    
20. Sabyasachi Mukharji / 18th December 1989/25th September 1990
21. Ranganath Misra/ 26th September  1990 / 24th November  1991    
22. Kamal Narain Singh / 25th November 1991 / 12th December  1991    
23. Madhukar Hiralal Kania / 13th December 1991 / 17th November  1992    
24. Lalit Mohan Sharma / 18th November  1992/ 11th Februa 1 y  1993    
25. Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah /12th February 1993/ 24th     October 24, 1994
26. Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi / 25th October  1994 / 24th     March 1997    
27. Jagdish Sharan Verma / 25th March 1997 / 17th January 1998    
28. Madan Mohan Punchhi / 18th     January 1998     / 9th October 1998  
29. Adarsh Sein Anand / 10th October  1998/ 11th January  2001    
30. Sam Piroj Bharucha / 11th January 2001 / 6th May  2002    
31. Bhupinder Nath Kirpal /6th May 2002 / 8th November 2002    
32. Gopal Ballav Pattanaik / 8th November 2002 / 19th December 2002
33. V. N. Khare/ 19th December 2002 / 2nd May  2004    
34. S. Rajendra Babu /2nd     May  2004 / 1st June  2004
35. Ramesh Chandra Lahoti / 1st     June 2004 / 1st November 2005
36. Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal / 1st November  2005 / 13th January  2007  
37. K. G. Balakrishnan / 13th January  2007 / 11th May 11, 2010
38. S. H. Kapadia /12th May  2010 /28th September  2012 
39. Altamas Kabir / 29th September  2012 / Will Retire on 18th July 2013