Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna’s tenure as the country’s 51st top judge started today with his swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. CJI Khanna succeeded ex-CJI DY Chandrachud who retired on November 10.
President of India Droupadi Murmu administered the oath today kickstarting his almost six-month-long tenure as top judge.
Who is CJI Khanna?
A third-generation lawyer, CJI Khanna completed his schooling from Delhi’s Modern School, Barakhamba Road and completed his graduation from DU’s Campus Law Centre. Born on May 14, 1960, CJI Khanna’s father was ex-Delhi High Court judge Dev Raj Khanna and his uncle was the ex-Supreme Court judge HR Khanna – the sole dissenter in the ADM Jabalpur case popularly known as the Habeas Corpus case, which cost him his Chief Justiceship.
CJI Khanna enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983 and began his practice at Delhi’s Tis Hazari District Court. CJI Khanna’s practice at the Delhi High Court was primarily in the field of taxation and company law. He also dabbled in public law matters, civil matters, environment and pollution laws matters, among others. In 2004, the Delhi Govt appointed Justice Khanna (as he then was) as the standing counsel (civil) at the Delhi High Court.
CJI Khanna was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in June 2005 and became a permanent judge eight months later.
In 2018, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi courted controversy when it recommended elevating Justices JK Maheshwari and Khanna overlooking the then Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog who were allegedly said to be in consideration.
When Justice Khanna was elevated to the top court, he ranked 33rd in the seniority list of high court judges across the country. CJI Khanna is also one of the few judges who was directly elevated to the Supreme Court from their parent high court. Interestingly, this is perhaps the first time CJI Khanna will look at admin matters since he was elevated directly and has never held the position of a chief justice of any high court.
Notable judgments
Since his elevation to the top court, CJI Khanna has been part of several Constitution Benches and has authored numerous judgments.
The bench led by Justice Khanna granted interim bail to ex-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal even as it noted that the case has raised some legal questions that needed examination by a larger bench. SC questioned the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that allowed Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers to arrest individuals if there is a “reason to believe” he is guilty “on the basis of material in possession” and referred the same for consideration before a larger bench.
Justice Khanna was also part of several constitution benches which included upholding the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir; de-legalised Electoral Bonds; ruled that the office of the chief justice of India also falls under the purview of the Right to Information Act and rejected a plea for 100 per cent tally of votes with the Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) among others.
Last year in 2023, he authored the majority opinion in the case which ruled that the Supreme Court had the discretion to directly dissolve marriages in event of their “irretrievable breakdown”.
What to watch out for
In his short tenure till May 13, CJI Khanna will have to look into Constitution Benches, and appointment of judges among other administrative matters. This week, Maharashtra and Jharkhand go to polls, while Wayanad will see by-elections.
CJI Khanna will have to address the issue of judges’ appointments. Supreme Court is already two judges short of a sanctioned strength. Before CJI Khanna retires, two more judges –Justices Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, will retire bringing the total number of vacancies to four. As of November 1, 2024 there are 352 vacancies across high courts. by May 2025, the number is likely to increase.
On the judicial side, it needs to be seen whether the new CJI will constitute any Constitution Bench to hear pending matters including – marital rape, Sabarimala, money bill etc
Other matters of importance include student activist Sharjeel Imam's bail plea; issues pertaining to state-wise grant of minority status; challenge to the 2017 Finance Act that deals with the reorganisation of the country’s tribunal system; plea seeking the enforceability of Fundamental Duties; whether the Centre’s ban on BBC Documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ violates rights to free speech; if the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioner Act, 2023 goes against its own verdict in the 2023 Anoop Baranwal case; the Mumbai college hijab ban and the aforementioned Arvind Kejriwal matter and the ED’s powers of arrest.
