Justice Sanjiv Khanna is likely to become the next Chief Justice of India (CJI), following Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’s formal recommendation to the Union government.
With Chief Justice Chandrachud set to retire on November 10, Justice Khanna, the second-most senior judge of the Supreme Court, has been proposed as his successor.
Once the government approves the proposal, Justice Khanna will take over as the 51st CJI, serving for six months until his retirement on May 13, 2025.
Who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna?
Justice Khanna was born on May 14, 1960.
He began his legal career in 1983, enrolling as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi. He practiced in various courts, including the Tis Hazari District Courts and the Delhi High Court, specializing in constitutional law, taxation, arbitration, and more.
His legal journey included serving as Senior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department and Standing Counsel (Civil) for the National Capital Territory of Delhi in 2004.
In 2005, he was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court, becoming a permanent judge in 2006. Throughout his tenure, Justice Khanna chaired several legal bodies, including the Delhi Judicial Academy and Delhi International Arbitration Centre. He was elevated to the Supreme Court of India on January 18, 2019.
Justice Khanna currently serves as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority and a member of the Governing Council of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal.
Historic Judgments
Justice Sanjiv Khanna has delivered several significant rulings. In 2024, he led a Division Bench that dismissed a plea by the Association for Democratic Reforms for 100% VVPAT verification of votes, citing existing safeguards by the Election Commission of India.
In a historic decision in 2024, Justice Khanna contributed to the ruling that declared the Electoral Bond Scheme unconstitutional. He argued that the scheme violated the right to information, as donor identities were “asymmetrically known” to bank officers, emphasizing the importance of transparency in electoral funding.
Justice Khanna was also part of the five-judge Bench in 2023 that upheld the abrogation of Article 370, which ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. He noted that Article 370 represented asymmetric federalism and its removal did not affect India’s federal structure.
Another notable judgment by Justice Khanna came in 2023 when he affirmed the Supreme Court’s authority to directly grant divorces under Article 142, based on the “irretrievable breakdown of marriage.”
One of his landmark judgments occurred in 2019 when he ruled that the Office of the Chief Justice of India could be subject to RTI requests, highlighting the balance between judicial transparency and privacy.
Justice Khanna’s legal career, marked by his commitment to transparency and justice, has positioned him as a key figure in India’s judiciary.
