Chief Justice of India is the highest judge in the Supreme Court of India. He also enjoys the highest judicial position. The Chief Justice not only heads the administrative functions of the Supreme Court but also sits actively as a presiding judge in Supreme Court of India.
Chief Justice carries out the following functions on the administrative side:
1. allocation of matters to various other judges of the Supreme Court
2. maintenance of roaster
3. appointment of court officials
4. general and other miscellaneous matters relating to supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court.

As the chief judge, the Chief Justice is also responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. In terms of Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the Chief Justice allocates the work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter to him in case they require the matter to be looked into by a bench of higher strength.

Here is the list of Chief Justices of Supreme Court of India.

No.

Name

Took office

Left office

Originating State

01

H. J. Kania

15 August 1947

16 November 1951

Mumbai

02

Mandakalathur Patajali Sastri

16 November 1951

3 January 1954

Chennai

03

Mehr Chand Mahajan

3 January 1954

22 December 1954

Lahore/Kashmir

04

B. K. Mukherjea

22 December 1954

31 January 1956

West Bengal

05

Sudhi Ranjan Das

31 January 1956

30 September 1959

West Bengal

06

Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha

30 September 1959

31 January 1964

Bihar

07

P. B. Gajendragadkar

31 January 1964

15 March 1966

Mumbai

08

A. K. Sarkar

16 March 1966

29 June 1966

West Bengal

09

K. Subba Rao

30 June 1966

11 April 1967

Tamil nadu

10

Kailas Nath Wanchoo

12 April 1967

24 February 1968

Uttar Pradesh

11

M. Hidayatullah

25 February 1968

16 December 1970

Chattisgarh

12

Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah

17 December 1970

21 January 1971

Gujarat

13

S. M. Sikri

22 January 1971

25 April 1973

Punjab

14

A. N. Ray

25 April 1973

28 January 1977

West Bengal

15

Mirza Hameedullah Beg

29 January 1977

21 February 1978

Uttar Pradesh

16

Y. V. Chandrachud

22 February 1978

11 July 1985

Mumbai

17

P. N. Bhagwati

12 July 1985

20 December 1986

Mumbai

18

R. S. Pathak

21 December 1986

6 June 1989

Uttar Pradesh

19

E. S. Venkataramiah

19 June 1989

17 December 1989

Karnataka

20

S. Mukharji

18 December 1989

25 September 1990

West Bengal

21

Ranganath Misra

25 September 1990

24 November 1991

Orissa

22

Kamal Narain Singh

25 November 1991

12 December 1991

Uttar Pradesh

23

M. H. Kania

13 December 1991

17 November 1992

Maharashtra

24

Lalit Mohan Sharma

18 November 1992

11 February 1993

Bihar

25

M. N. Venkatachaliah

12 February 1993

24 October 1994

Karnataka

26

A. M. Ahmadi

25 October 1994

24 March 1997

Gujarat

27

J. S. Verma

25 March 1997

18 January 1998

Madhya Pradesh

28

M. M. Punchhi

18 January 1998

9 October 1998

Punjab

29

A. S. Anand

10 October 1998

1 November 2001

Jammu & Kashmir

30

S. P. Bharucha

2 November 2001

6 May 2002

Maharashtra

31

B. N. Kirpal

6 May 2002

11 November 2002

Delhi

32

G. B. Pattanaik

11 November 2002

19 December 2002

Orissa

33

V. N. Khare

19 December 2002

2 May 2004

Uttar Pradesh

34

Rajendra Babu

2 May 2004

1 June 2004

Karnataka

35

R. C. Lahoti

1 June 2004

1 November 2005

Uttar Pradesh

36

Y. K. Sabharwal

1 November 2005

14 January 2007

Delhi

37

K. G. Balakrishnan

14 January 2007

11 May 2010

Kerala

38

S. H. Kapadia

12 May 2010 (incumbent)

29 September 2012

Maharashtra