CJI Surya Kant says first priority is to reduce pending cases, shares detailed plan

CHief justness of bharat Surya Kant's number one antecedency as CJI is to cut the number of pending cases, for which, he plans to use 'mediation and litigation' as the two key tools, he said at the 23rd edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.Speaking to Utkarsh Anand, HT's national legal editor, Justice Kant shared his detailed plan on clearing the backlog of cases in courts. Follow HTLS 2025 LIVE UpdatesJustice Surya Kant, who was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24, said, "My first priority (as CJI) will be for the predictable timeline and the national judicial policy based on early resolution of pending cases."He stated that he aims to achieve this priority with two tools -- mediation and litigation."In the last six months, I have launched a mediation mission. Mediation is one tool that I wish, with the cooperation of my sister and brother judges, we would be able to make mediation popular," Justice Kant said at the 23rd edition of HTLS 2025.He went on to say, “The second thing is prioritising of litigation. We want to make it clear that the Supreme Court is also meant for the common man.”CJI Kant also shared his plan to improve the country's judicial system, stating that he would work towards sensitising the district judiciaries in order to improve the timeline and predictability."For this, we plan to introduce training programmes through the judicial academy platforms and high court platforms," he added.The judiciary is facing new challenges, Justice Kant said, citing examples of digital arrest and cybercrime cases.“No one thought that there will be cases of digital arrest. We need to have training programs regularly, and update our judicial officers with the newer challenges and how to deal with them correctly,” said CJI at HTLS 2025.Shedding more light on cybercrime, Justice Kant said that while the victim may be in India, the perpetrator may be out of the country, on some island."Until we figure out and understand how a crime like this is carried out, the judiciary will not be able to tackle such cases and deliver justice. For this, it is necessary for the judiciary to adapt and learn," CJI Surya Kant stated.Born in 1962, Surya Kant rose through the Hisar courts to become Haryana's youngest Advocate General at the age of 38, and then to the Bench in 2004. Elevated to the Supreme Court in 2019, Justice Kant has authored critical judgments across constitutional, criminal and administrative law, and served on key Constitution benches, including the Article 370 case and the recent presidential reference on gubernatorial powers.Justice Surya Kant was sworn in as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24.Justice Kant, who is widely regarded as a consensus-builder, combines sharp legal insight with a deep social conscience, a key trait shaped by his early struggles and lifelong commitment to justice.The 23rd edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, a platform which offers fresh ideas to share in the current discourse and for a better future. This year, under the theme "Transforming Tomorrow”, leaders and changemakers from across the fields, like politics, business, sports, health, science and entertainment, gather to capture the spirit of innovation, resilience and growth that defines our era.The summit kicked off on December 4 and is on its final day, Day 3, on Friday, with key speakers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, actor Hugh Grant, Aamir Khan, and several others.