Justice Sanjiv Khanna is next Chief Justice of India, to take charge on Nov 11

Justice Sanjiv Khanna will assume office as the 51st Chief Justice of India on November 11 and will have a term of nearly seven months till May 13, 2025.

In Short

• Justice Sanjiv Khanna appointed as 51st Chief Justice of India
• His name was recommended to President by DY Chandrachud
• Khanna to have a term of nearly 7 months, till March 13, 2025

President of India Droupadi Murmu on Thursday appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). Justice Khanna, who is currently the senior-most judge in the top court, will succeed incumbent CJI DY Chandrachud and assume the position on November 11, 2024.

The appointment follows the recommendation made by DY Chandrachud who is set to retire from the post on November 10, 2024 on attaining the age of 65. Justice Chandrachud took over as the CJI on November 8, 2022.

"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President, after consultation with 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," said Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister for Law & Justice," Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said.

Justice Khanna will assume office as the 51st Chief Justice of India and will have a term of nearly seven 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. Throughout his tenure as Supreme Court judge, he headed the benches of several politically sensitive cases, notably concerning bail applications for 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 Lok Sabha election campaigning — a decision described as one-of-its-kind.

Later, in July, the bench again granted Kejriwal interim bail and referred the case to a larger bench to explore 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 (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs). While it rejected a request for 100 per cent VVPAT verification, the judgment called on the Election Commission of India (ECI) to implement additional safeguards.

Furthermore, Justice Khanna contributed to decisions made by the constitution bench, including those related to Article 370 and the Electoral Bonds case.