Rohtak, Nov. 25 -- As justice Surya Kant took oath as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday, he was surrounded by family, school and college friends, teachers from Rohtak's Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), colleagues from the Punjab and Haryana high court and residents of his native village Petwar in Hisar.

First from the state of Haryana to reach the country's highest judicial office, justice Surya Kant was sworn in by President Droupadi Murmu. Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several ministers from his cabinet attended the swearing-in.

Also among the 235 invitees at the event was KPS Mehalwal, a retired head of the law department at MDU. He recalled Surya...