Justice Sanjiv Khanna takes oath as 51st Chief Justice of India, succeeds DY Chandrachud

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who has been part of several landmark Supreme Court judgments, was sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday. He was administered oath by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeds Justice DY Chandrachud, whose term as CJI ended on Friday.

The Centre officially notified Justice Khanna’s appointment on October 24 following Chief Justice Chandrachud’s recommendation on October 16. Friday was the last working day of Justice DY Chandrachud as the CJI and he was given a rousing farewell by judges, lawyers and staff of the apex court and the high courts.

At 64, Justice Khanna will serve a six-month tenure as Chief Justice of India and is expected to retire on May 13, 2025.

A Legacy of Landmark Judgments

Justice Sanjiv Khanna has been part of several landmark Supreme Court judgments, including the scrapping of the electoral bonds scheme and upholding the abrogation of Article 370. His notable judgments also include upholding the use of electronic voting machines in elections.

It was the Justice Khanna-led bench, which for the first time, granted interim bail to Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, the then Delhi chief minister, to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections in the excise policy scam cases.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s journey

Justice Khanna hails from an illustrious Delhi-based family. His father, Justice Dev Raj Khanna, was a former Delhi High Court judge, and his uncle, Justice HR Khanna, was a prominent former apex court judge. Justice HR Khanna made headlines in 1976 for resigning after writing a dissenting verdict in the infamous ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency.

Justice Khanna enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983. He initially practised at the district courts at the Tis Hazari complex, later moving to the Delhi High Court and tribunals. He had a long tenure as the senior standing counsel for the Income Tax Department. In 2004, he was appointed the standing counsel (civil) for the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

He was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005 and became a permanent judge in 2006. Justice Khanna was elevated to the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019.