Justice Sanjiv Khanna New CJI: President of India Draupadi Murmu appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). Justice Khanna, who is currently the senior-most judge in the apex court, will replace current CJI DY Chandrachud and will assume office on November 11, 2024. The appointment comes following a recommendation made by DY Chandrachud, who is set to retire from the post on November 10, 2024, upon attaining the age of 65. Justice Chandrachud took over as CJI on November 8, 2022.

Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, 'Exercising the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the Hon'ble President, after consultation with the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, hereby appoints Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge, Supreme Court of India, as the Chief Justice of India with effect from 11th November, 2024.' Justice Khanna will take over as the 51st Chief Justice of India and will have a tenure of about six months till May 13, 2025.

Who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna?

Justice Khanna was appointed to the Supreme Court from the Delhi High Court on January 18, 2019. During his tenure as a Supreme Court judge, he headed benches dealing with several politically sensitive cases, notably the bail pleas of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in the Delhi liquor policy case.

In May, Justice Khanna's bench made headlines by granting interim bail to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, specifically for the Lok Sabha election campaign - a decision that was described as unique of its kind. Later, in July, the bench again granted interim bail to Kejriwal and referred the matter to a larger bench to ascertain the need for additional grounds for arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to prevent misuse of the law.

Justice Khanna's bench also addressed issues related to Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails. While it rejected the request for 100 percent VVPAT verification, the judgment asked the Election Commission of India to implement additional security measures.

In addition, Justice Khanna contributed to decisions taken by the Constitution Bench, including those related to Article 370 and the Electoral Bonds case.