Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who has been a significant party of landmark judgements and whose name was proposed by Justice DY Chandrachud as his successor, was sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday. The oath taking was administered by President Dropadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and outgoing CJI DY Chandrachud.
The center officially notified Justice Khanna’s appointment following Chief Justice Chandrachud’s recommendation. On Friday, the last working day of Chief Justice Chandrachud, judges, lawyers and staff of the apex court and high court gave him a rousing farewell.
Who is Sanjiv Khanna?
Justice Khanna at the age of 64 will serve a six-month tenure as Chief Justice of India and is expected to retire on May 13, 2025. He has been an essential part of several landmark Supreme Court judgements.such as upholding the sanctity of EVMs, scrapping the electoral bonds scheme, upholding the abrogation of Article 370, and the grant of interim bail to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.Justice Khanna is the son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Dev Raj Khanna and the nephew of prominent former apex court judge HR Khanna.
Justice Khanna enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983. He initially practiced at the district courts at the Tis Hazari complex, later moving to the Delhi High Court and tribunals.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019 and was a third generation lawyer before being appointed as judge of the high court. He made to the headlines by resigning in 1976 after he gave a dissenting verdict in the infamous ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency.
