President notifies appointment of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as next Chief Justice of India

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday notified the appointment of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) after the Central government cleared the same.

Justice Khanna will take over as the 51st CJI on retirement of incumbent CJI DY Chandrachud on November 10.

As per the norm, CJI Chandrachud had earlier recommended the name of Justice Khanna, who is the first puisne judge at the top court, for appointment as the next CJI.

Union Minister of State with independent charge of the Law & Justice Ministry, Arjun Ram Meghwal, took to X (formerly Twitter), to break the news.

Justice Khanna will have a short tenure of 183 days, which is just little over six months. He would retire on May 13, 2025.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna began his law practice in 1983 in the areas of taxation, constitutional law, arbitration, commercial and environmental matters among other things. 

In 2004, he was appointed as the Standing Counsel (Civil) for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005 and was made permanent judge a year later.

He was elevated to the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019.

Justice Khanna is the nephew of former Supreme Court judge Hans Raj Khanna, who is known for his dissent in the landmark ADM Jabalpur case.

As a top court judge, Justice Sanjiv Khanna himself has delivered many key judgments, particularly in past few months.

He was part of the Constitution Bench that last year upheld the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India.

Justice Khanna was also part of the Constitution Bench that struck down the Electoral Bonds scheme which permitted anonymous donations to political parties.

In May 2023, Justice Khanna along with other judges of a Constitution Bench ruled that the top court can exercise its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant a decree of divorce in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

In April this year, a Bench of Justice Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta rejected the petition seeking directions to tally all Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with votes cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during elections.

Before the Lok Sabha elections this year, a Bench led by Justice Khanna refused to stay the appointment of former bureaucrats Gyanesh Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as new Election Commissioners.

It was the Bench headed by Justice Khanna which on July 12 granted interim bail to then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case connected to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

A Justice Khanna-led Bench had earlier granted bail to Member Parliament (MP) Sanjay Singh in the same case.

In August, Justice Khanna questioned a Mumbai college's ban on students' wearing burqa, hijab or niqab on campus. The Bench headed by him partly stayed the notice issued by the institution in this regard.

Justice Khanna in July recused from hearing review petitions against the Supreme Court's October 2023 verdict that refused to recognize the right of same-sex couples to enter into marriages or have civil unions.

In 2021, Justice Khanna had dissented from the majority decision in the case on Central Vista Project.

In 2019, when Justice Khanna was elevated to the top court, he had described it as a big surprise for him.

While addressing a a Full Court Reference at the High Court, he had spoken on the three problems in the legal system – delay in disposal of cases, high cost of litigation and the impression that without “falsehood” a case cannot be won.

As a judge, Justice Khanna had said, his philosophy is to be a “keeper of law” and not create law.

“Enthusiasm is not a virtue of a Judge,” he said then.

[Read Notification]