The correct sequence of Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India is -
- (1)B.P. Sinha, P.B. Gajendragadkar, S.R. Das
- (2)K.G. Balakrishanan, S.H. Kapadia, H.L. Dattu
- (3)Ranjan Gogoi, N.V. Raman, Deepak Mishra
- (4)H.L. Dattu, T.S. Thakur, Jagdish Singh Khehar
Answer
Why
Correct — option (4), H.L. Dattu, T.S. Thakur, Jagdish Singh Khehar.
These three held the office one after another. The Supreme Court's profile pages record that H.L. Dattu was appointed Chief Justice of India on 28.09.2014 and retired on 02.12.2015.
T.S. Thakur was appointed on 03.12.2015 and retired on 4 January 2017. Jagdish Singh Khehar was appointed on 04.01.2017 and retired on 27 August 2017.
Each took office as his predecessor retired, so the three names run in unbroken order. The Court's list of former Chief Justices also places them in this order.
The correct sequence is option (4), H.L. Dattu, T.S. Thakur, Jagdish Singh Khehar.
The idea to remember: Dattu (2014–15) → Thakur (2015–17) → Khehar (2017).
Why the others are wrong
- (1)B.P. Sinha, P.B. Gajendragadkar, S.R. Das — S.R. Das came first, not last. The Supreme Court's profile of Sudhi Ranjan Das shows him as Chief Justice from 1 February 1956 until he retired on 30.9.1959.
B.P. Sinha followed, retiring on 31.01.1964, and P.B. Gajendragadkar became Chief Justice from February 1, 1964. The order is Das, Sinha, Gajendragadkar.
- (2)K.G. Balakrishanan, S.H. Kapadia, H.L. Dattu — These three did hold office in this order, but not one after another. The Supreme Court's list of former Chief Justices places Altamas Kabir, P. Sathasivam and R.M. Lodha between Kapadia and Dattu.
Kabir was appointed on 29.09.2012, and Lodha retired on 27.09.2014, the day before Dattu took over. Read as successive holders of the office, the run breaks after Kapadia.
The stem itself does not say "successive", and in chronological order alone these three names are not out of place. RPSC's final key marks option (4).
- (3)Ranjan Gogoi, N.V. Raman, Deepak Mishra — Dipak Misra came before Ranjan Gogoi, who was appointed Chief Justice on 03.10.2018, per the Supreme Court's profile. Misra is the name just before Gogoi in the Court's list.
N.V. Ramana took oath as the 48th Chief Justice of India on 24 April 2021, after S.A. Bobde retired on 23 April 2021. The order is Misra, Gogoi, (Bobde), Ramana.
Concept
The Chief Justice of India heads the Supreme Court, and one Chief Justice follows another as each retires. The Constitution, in Article 124(2), has Supreme Court judges hold office until the age of sixty-five years.
Because retirement falls on a fixed age, terms vary in length. From the Court's profile pages, H.L. Dattu served from September 2014 to December 2015, T.S. Thakur until January 2017, and J.S. Khehar only from January to August 2017.
Option (4) is the only option whose three names followed one another without a gap. Option (2) lists three Chief Justices in the right chronological order, but three others served between Kapadia and Dattu.
On the exam date, 27 October 2021, the Chief Justice of India was N.V. Ramana, who took oath as the 48th Chief Justice on 24 April 2021.
RPSC's syllabus lists, under Indian Constitution, Political System & Governance, "President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Parliament, Supreme Court & Judicial Review."
The order of Chief Justices is a matter of record. The Supreme Court's website keeps a list of former Chief Justices and a profile page for each, giving dates of appointment and retirement.
Rajasthan has a link to this list: R.M. Lodha, who served as Chief Justice of India from April to September 2014, had earlier been a judge of the Rajasthan High Court, according to his Supreme Court profile.
Article 126 provides for gaps in the office: when it is vacant or the Chief Justice cannot perform his duties, a judge appointed by the President performs them; the Court's profile of S.R. Das records him as Acting Chief Justice in 1955 before he became Chief Justice.
Key facts
- Supreme Court profile: H.L. Dattu was appointed Chief Justice of India on 28.09.2014 and retired on 02.12.2015.
- Supreme Court profile: T.S. Thakur was appointed Chief Justice of India on 03.12.2015 and retired on 4 January 2017.
- Supreme Court profile: J.S. Khehar was appointed Chief Justice of India on 04.01.2017 and retired on 27 August 2017.
- Supreme Court's list: Altamas Kabir, P. Sathasivam and R.M. Lodha served between S.H. Kapadia and H.L. Dattu.
- N.V. Ramana took oath as the 48th Chief Justice of India on 24 April 2021, and held the office on 27 October 2021.
Option (4) is the only unbroken run of three. Option (2) skips three Chief Justices.
Study next
Common traps
- Accepting names in the right chronological order as a sequence. Option (2) is in order, but Kabir, Sathasivam and Lodha served between Kapadia and Dattu.
- Placing Dipak Misra after Ranjan Gogoi. Misra served from August 2017 to October 2018, and Gogoi took over on 3 October 2018.
- Putting S.R. Das after Gajendragadkar. Das (1956–59) came before B.P. Sinha (1959–64) and Gajendragadkar (from 1964).
A question can list three or four Chief Justices and ask for the correct sequence, as here.
A question can also ask who was Chief Justice of India on a given date, or which Chief Justice came from a particular High Court.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who was the Chief Justice of India on 27 October 2021?
- (a)S.A. Bobde
- (b)N.V. Ramana
- (c)Ranjan Gogoi
- (d)Dipak Misra
Answer(2) — N.V. Ramana took oath as the 48th Chief Justice of India on 24 April 2021. S.A. Bobde (1) retired on 23 April 2021, and Ranjan Gogoi (3) held the office before Bobde. Dipak Misra (4) held the office before Gogoi. - practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following Chief Justices of India served between S.H. Kapadia and H.L. Dattu? 1. Altamas Kabir 2. P. Sathasivam 3. R.M. Lodha 4. T.S. Thakur
- (a)1 and 2 only
- (b)1, 2 and 3 only
- (c)2, 3 and 4 only
- (d)1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer(2) — The Supreme Court's list places Altamas Kabir, P. Sathasivam and R.M. Lodha between Kapadia and Dattu. T.S. Thakur (item 4) succeeded Dattu on 3 December 2015, so options (3) and (4), which include him, are wrong; option (1) leaves out Lodha.