New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- Justice Surya Kant, who was recommended on Monday as the next Chief Justice of India by CJI Bhushan R Gavai, is poised to make history as the first jurist from Haryana to assume the nation's highest judicial office. His appointment, ahead of Justice Gavai's retirement on November 23, will mark not just a transition in leadership at the Supreme Court, but also the quiet culmination of a remarkable judicial journey rooted in humility, conviction and poetry. On the day he handed over a copy of the letter recommending Justice Kant's name to the Union government, Chief Justice Gavai told HT that his successor was "suited and competent in all aspects to take the helm," adding that Justice Kant "will prove to be an asset to the institution as its head." Reflecting on their shared journeys, Justice Gavai said: "Like me, Justice Kant also belongs to the class in society that has seen struggles at every stage in life, which makes me confident that he would be best suited to understand the pain and sufferings of those who need the judiciary to protect their rights." Those who have long known Justice Kant trace his story to the early 2000s when, at just 38, he became Haryana's youngest Advocate General. Barely four years later, in 2004, he was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, still in his early forties. People close to Justice Kant describe him as someone who never set out to be a judge but was gently persuaded by destiny -- and by persuasion. By persuasion, they mean the earnest insistence of the then chief justice of the Punjab & Haryana high court, Justice AB Saharya, who saw in him the right blend of intellect and integrity. Barely in his forties at that time, serving as the advocate general of his state and at the peak of his legal career in 2000, Justice Kant had reason to hesitate. Justice Kant was immersed in an active legal practice and family life with two young daughters. The call to the Bench also meant giving up a thriving practice and embracing an uncertain path, both professionally and financially. Yet, people familiar with the episode recall, a quiet sense of duty prevailed. When Justice Saharya told him that his elevation was the result of long deliberations and that the judiciary needed him to repay the institution that had shaped him, he was deeply moved. "He saw judgeship as a repayment of a moral debt to the system that had given him everything," said a former colleague from his Bar days, adding he accepted the call with humility, seeing it as a moral duty rather than an ambition. And so began a journey that would take him from a promising lawyer to the 53rd CJI, set to assume office on November 24, after serving for 15 years as chief justice and judge in various high courts and over six years in the apex court. Those who have worked alongside him recall how Justice Kant carried his sense of fairness as his most prized possession. "For him, the most fascinating transformation was the shift from advocacy to adjudication," said a retired high court judge familiar with his work. Over the years, Justice Kant's administrative acumen became as acclaimed as his jurisprudence. As chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court and in various national judicial initiatives, he often spoke of the need for a more uniform and efficient system, where all high courts move with the same rhythm, and district courts serve as the true measure of judicial health....