New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Monday administered the oath of office to Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in a swearing-in ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
Justice Khanna, the 51st CJI, is set to lead the judiciary for a significant period of around six months, allowing for ample time to make his mark.
As a Supreme Court judge, he has been part of the landmark judgments on Article 370, which dealt with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, decriminalisation of adultery, which was a significant step towards gender equality, the electoral bonds scheme, which was a controversial issue related to political funding, and EVM-VVPAT tally, which was a crucial decision for ensuring the transparency of elections.
On October 24, the Centre cleared Justice Khanna’s appointment to the highest judicial office of the country after then-CJI D.Y. Chandrachud recommended him as his successor last month.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 11 November 2024,” had said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna held the post of Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Service Committee.
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At present, he is the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority and a member of the Governing Counsel of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal.
Before being elevated to the Supreme Court, Justice Khanna served as a judge in the Delhi High Court until January 2019.
As a judge of the Delhi HC, he held the position of Chairman/Judge-in-charge, Delhi Judicial Academy, where he was responsible for training and development of judges, the Delhi International Arbitration Centre, where he oversaw arbitration proceedings, and the District Court Mediation Centres, where he facilitated dispute resolution.
With a strong foundation in law, having obtained his law degree from the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, Justice Khanna is well-equipped to lead as the 51st CJI.
He enrolled as an advocate in the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983. He primarily practised taxation, arbitration, commercial law, environmental law, medical negligence law, and company law in the Delhi High Court.
He had a long tenure as the Senior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department.
In 2004, he was appointed as the Standing Counsel (Civil) for the Delhi government. He had also appeared and argued in a number of criminal cases at the Delhi High Court as an Additional Public Prosecutor, representing the state in criminal proceedings, and as an amicus curie (friend of the court), providing impartial legal advice on complex legal issues.
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–IANS
