On October 24, 2024, the central government officially appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India, marking him as the 51st CJI. He will take office on November 11, succeeding DY Chandrachud, who is set to retire upon reaching the age of 65.
Justice Khanna’s term as Chief Justice will last just over six months, concluding on May 13, 2025. Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, announced the appointment on X (formerly Twitter), noting that it was made following consultation with the current Chief Justice.
Justice Khanna is the nephew of former Supreme Court judge Hans Raj Khanna, renowned for his dissent in the significant ADM Jabalpur case. Justice Khanna was born on May 14, 1960 and completed his law from Campus Law Centre of the Faculty of law, University of Delhi.
In recent months, he has delivered several important rulings and was part of the Constitution bench that upheld the abrogation of Article 370 as well as the bench that struck down the Electoral Bonds scheme, which allowed for anonymous political donations.
Furthermore, Justice Khanna dealt with politically sensitive matter related to AAP leaders Kejriwal, Sisodia and Sanjay Singh’s Bail application in Delhi Liquor policy case.
Justice Khanna’s bench also dealt with EVM-VVPAT matter in which it was held to revoke 100% VVPAT Verification and also directed ECI to bring further armor.
