Justice Sanjeev Khanna will be the 51st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He will take oath of office and secrecy on November 11. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal gave this information on Thursday.
CJI DY Chandrachud recommended Justice Khanna's name to the government. CJI Chandrachud will retire on 10 November 2024.
The tradition is that the sitting CJI recommends the name of his successor only when he is requested to do so by the Law Ministry.
After CJI Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna's name is on the seniority list. So Justice Khanna's name was put forward. However, his tenure will be only for 6 months.
Justice Khanna, 64, will retire on May 13, 2025. As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Khanna has written 65 judgments. He has been part of around 275 bench during this period.
Judge in Delhi High Court for 14 years Justice Sanjiv Khanna was born on May 14, 1960. He studied law from the Campus Law Center of Delhi University. After graduation, he enrolled as an advocate with the Delhi Bar Council in 1983. Before becoming a judge of the Supreme Court, he was a judge in the Delhi High Court for 14 years. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2019.
There was a controversy over becoming a judge of the Supreme Court There was a huge controversy over Justice Khanna's appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court ignoring 32 judges. On January 10, 2019, the Collegium decided to promote Justice Maheshwari to his place and Justice Khanna to the 33rd place in seniority. After this, the recommendation was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Two cases of CJI being made without seniority, both of Indira government In April 1973, AN Ray was appointed CJI, bypassing three senior judges of the Supreme Court. Justice HR Khanna was the senior most when Justice Ray retired in 1977, bypassing three senior judges of the Supreme Court, but was replaced by Justice MH Baig. Justice Khanna gave judgment against Indira government during Emergency, Justice Sanjeev Khanna is his nephew.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna's father Justice Devraj Khanna was also a judge of the Delhi High Court. His uncle Justice Hansraj Khanna was also a Supreme Court judge. It was a rare coincidence that Justice Sanjiv Khanna began his first day as a Supreme Court judge with his uncle, the late Justice H.R. Khanna had retired.
recused himself from hearing the same-sex marriage case 52 review petitions on same-sex marriage were scheduled to be heard in August 2024, but Justice Sanjiv Khanna recused himself from the case before the hearing. According to sources, Justice Khanna cited personal reasons behind it.
Justice Khanna's defection will necessitate the formation of a new five-judge bench to hear the review petition. Only after this they can be heard.
In fact, same-sex marriage was denied legal recognition on October 17, 2023. 52 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of the decision.
Justice Sanjeev Khanna's famous cases
- 100% verification of VVPAT- In Association for Democratic Reforms v Election Commission of India (2024), a bench of Justice Khanna dismissed an ADR petition seeking 100% VVPAT verification of votes cast on electronic voting machines. In the judgement, Justice Khanna wrote, he wanted to place on record all security measures taken by the commission to ensure free and fair elections.
- Electoral Bond Scheme- In 2024, a five-judge bench declared the Elector Bond Scheme unconstitutional. Justice Khanna agreed and wrote that if donations are made through banking channels, the donors have no right to privacy. Their identity is asymmetrically known to the person from whom the bond is purchased and the bank officials.
- Abolition of Article 370- In 2023, Justice Khanna concurred in the decision of a five-judge bench, which upheld the validity of abrogating Article 370. He observed that Article 370 of the Constitution of India is a feature of federalism and not a sign of sovereignty. Its repeal does not negate the federal structure.
- The Supreme Court has the power to grant divorce- In 2023, Justice Khanna wrote the majority opinion in the Shilpa Shailesh v. Varun Srinivasan case, which held that the Supreme Court had the power to grant divorce directly under Article 142 of the Constitution. He argued that the Supreme Court can grant divorce on the ground of irreconcilable breakdown of marriage to do complete justice.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
