President Draupadi Murmu has appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the 51st Chief Justice of the country. He will take charge of this post on November 11, 2024 and will replace DY Chandrachud.
President Draupadi Murmu on Thursday appointed the senior-most Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjeev Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). Justice Khanna will replace the current CJI DY Chandrachud, who will retire on November 10, 2024 at the age of 65. Justice Sanjeev Khanna will assume office on November 11, 2024.
This appointment was recommended by the current CJI DY Chandrachud, who himself was appointed to this post on November 8, 2022. Giving information in this regard, Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, ‘Using the powers conferred by the Constitution and after consultation with the Hon’ble Chief Justice, the Hon’ble President has appointed Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 11, 2024.’
Justice Sanjeev Khanna will take over as the 51st Chief Justice of India. His tenure will be about seven months, which will last till May 13, 2025.
Who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna
Justice Khanna was appointed to the Supreme Court from the Delhi High Court on 18 January 2019. During his tenure, he heard several politically sensitive cases, including the bail petitions of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in the Delhi liquor policy case.
In May, a bench headed by Justice Khanna granted interim bail to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal so that he could participate in the Lok Sabha election campaign. This decision was considered unique in itself.
After this, in July, this bench again granted interim bail to Kejriwal and referred the matter to a larger bench to examine the need for additional arrest grounds under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and prevent misuse of the law.
The bench headed by Justice Khanna also heard cases related to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs). Although the bench rejected the demand for 100 percent VVPAT verification, it asked the Election Commission to implement additional security measures. Apart from this, Justice Khanna contributed to many important decisions taken by the Constitution Bench, prominent among which are the decisions related to Article 370 and Electoral Bond case.
