Surya Kant becomes Himachal Pradesh HC chief justice

Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court by Governor Acharya Devvrat here on Friday.

The ceremony took place at the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan, where Chief Secretary B K Agarwal read out the Warrant of Appointment issued by the President of India.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Assembly Speaker Rajiv Bindal, state ministers, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri were among those present on the occasion.

Born on February 10, 1962, at Hisar in Haryana, Justice Surya Kant graduated from Government Post-Graduate College, Hisar, and earned Bachelor's degree in Law in 1984 from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

He started practising law at the district court, Hisar in 1984 and shifted to Chandigarh in 1985 to practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Courts. On July 7, 2000, he earned the distinction of being appointed the youngest Advocate General of Haryana.

He was designated senior advocate in March 2001 and held the office of Advocate General, Haryana, till his elevation as a permanent judge to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 09, 2004.

Justice Surya Kant was nominated as a member of the National Legal Services Authority on February 23, 2007, for two consecutive terms.

(With inputs from agencies.)