Justice Sanjiv Khanna to take oath as 51st CJI today

More than 47 years after legendary Justice HR Khanna’s supersession, his nephew Justice Sanjiv Khanna will be sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday.

President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath of office to Justice Khanna at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at 10 am. He will succeed Justice DY Chandrachud, who retired on Sunday.

Appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on January 18, 2019, Justice Khanna will have a six-month tenure as the CJI. He will retire on May 13, 2025. The Centre had notified his appointment as the next CJI on October 24, following Chief Justice Chandrachud’s recommendation on October 16.

Reducing pendency of cases and speeding up justice delivery are said to be his priorities. There has been a convention of the CJI recommending the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as his successor. Only twice, it has not been followed — Justice AN Ray was appointed the 14th CJI on April 25, 1973, superseding three senior-most judges, and Justice MH Beg was appointed the 15th CJI on January 29, 1977, superseding Justice HR Khanna.

Justice HR Khanna was denied the appointment as CJI by the Indira Gandhi-led government for his sole dissenting opinion in ADM Jabalpur versus Shivkant Shukla (1976) on the suspension of fundamental rights during Emergency.

The majority had declared that the government could suspend fundamental rights and detain citizens without following due process during Emergency. Justice HR Khanna had resigned after the government notified the appointment of Justice HM Beg — a junior judge — as the CJI.

Son of Justice DR Khanna, a former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Sanjiv Khanna has been a part of many Constitution Bench verdicts, including the ones upholding the abrogation of Article 370 and the scrapping of electoral bonds scheme.

He headed the Bench which upheld the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in elections amid the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. A Bench led by him had granted an interim bail to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to enable him campaign in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll.

Born on 14th May, 1960, Justice Khanna got enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983 and initially practised in the District Courts at the Tis Hazari complex, Delhi, and later in the High Court of Delhi and tribunals in fields as diverse as constitutional law, direct taxation, arbitration, commercial law, company law, land law, environmental law and medical negligence.

He was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005 and was made a permanent judge in 2006. As a judge of the Delhi High Court, he held the position of Chairman/Judge-in-charge, Delhi Judicial Academy, Delhi International Arbitration Centre and the District Court Mediation Centres. He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019. He is known to be an expert in taxation matters.

He also held the post of Chairman, Supreme Court Legal Service Committee, from June 17, 2023, to December 25, 2023. He is presently the executive chairman of National Legal Services Authority and a member of the governing council of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal.

His uncle was denied appointment in 1977

• Despite being the senior-most SC judge, Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s uncle Justice HR Khanna was denied appointment as CJI in 1977
• The then Indira Gandhi-led government denied him the position for his sole dissenting opinion in ADM Jabalpur versus Shivkant Shukla on suspension of fundamental rights during Emergency