Justice Sanjiv Khanna to succeed Chandrachud as CJI

The appointment of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) has received formal approval from the Union Government. On Nov 11, Justice Khanna, the Supreme Court's first puisne judge, will take over after incumbent Chief Justice DY Chandrachud retires.

Earlier, CJI Chandrachud had suggested Justice Khanna for the position, following the procedures for such appointments.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna will take the oath of office a day after incumbent Justice D Y Chandrachud will step down following his retirement on Nov 10. Justice Chandrachud took over as the CJI on Nov 8, 2022.

Arjun Ram Meghwal, the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice, confirmed the government's support for Justice Khanna's appointment by announcing the news on X.

"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the Hon'ble President, after consultation with the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, as Chief Justice of India with effect from 11th November, 2024," reads Meghwal's post.

Justice Khanna will only be in office for 183 days. The date of his retirement is May 13, 2025.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna is the nephew of former Supreme Court justice Hans Raj Khanna, who is well-known for his dissent in the historic ADM Jabalpur case.

Following the retirement of current Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna was named India's 51st Chief Justice.

Born in 1960, Khanna studied law at the Campus Law Center of the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna's mother, Saroj Khanna, was a Hindi instructor at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi, and his father, Justice Dev Raj Khanna, retired from the Delhi High Court as a judge in 1985.

enrolled with the Delhi Bar Council in 1983 as an advocate, he practiced in various fields, including constitutional law, direct taxation, arbitration, commercial law, business law, land law, environmental law, and medical negligence.

His practice began in the District Courts at the TisHazari complex in Delhi and then expanded to the High Court of Delhi and tribunals.

On Jan 18, 2019, Justice Khanna was promoted to the rank of Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

Justice Khanna authored a number of significant decisions during his time as a Supreme Court judge. He was on the five-judge Constitution Bench that declared the Electoral Bond Scheme illegal in Feb 2024.

In 2023, Justice Khanna delivered a landmark Constitutional Bench decision that declared that the Supreme Court has the authority to grant divorce immediately under Article 142 of the Constitution on the grounds of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage."