Senior Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjeev Khanna on Monday became the 51st Chief Justice of the country. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud retired on November 10. At 10 am, President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Sanjeev Khanna. Justice Khanna's tenure will last till May 13, 2025. Justice Khanna has been a part of historic decisions like abolishing the electoral bond scheme and repealing Article 370. 64-year-old Justice Khanna will retire on May 13, 2025.
Justice Khanna has written 65 judgments as a Supreme Court judge. During this time he has been a part of about 275 benches. Last year he was part of a 3-judge bench that heard the reservation in promotion for SC and ST. In 2019, he gave a majority verdict in the famous 'RTI Judgment'. In 2022, he said that arbitrators cannot unilaterally fix their fees.
Know who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna?
Justice Khanna was born on 14 May 1960 in Delhi and studied law from DU's Campus Law Center. Along with this, he was appointed as Permanent Advocate (Civil) of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in 2004 and became an ad hoc judge in the Delhi High Court in 2005. Later he was appointed as a permanent judge. He also argued in many criminal cases as Additional Public Prosecutor and Amicus Curiae in the Delhi High Court.
Along with this, he also had a long tenure as Senior Permanent Advocate of the Income Tax Department. As CJI, reducing the number of pending cases and speeding up the delivery of justice is his priority. He is the son of Justice Devraj Khanna, a senior judge of the Delhi High Court, and the nephew of Justice HR Khanna, a well-known former judge of the Supreme Court. His uncle Justice HR Khanna was in the headlines by resigning after writing a dissenting judgment in the ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency in 1976.
Stepped into the Supreme Court in 2019
Justice Khanna was elevated to the Supreme Court on 18 January 2019 on the recommendation of the Collegium. After coming to the Supreme Court, he was the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Service Committee from 17 June 2023 to 25 December 2023. Currently, he is the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Service Authority and Governing Council Member of the National Judicial Academy Bhopal.