CJI DY Chandrachud Recommends Justice Sanjiv Khanna As His Successor: Sources

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has proposed the name of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as his successor, top sources with the CJI office have said.

In a letter to the Centre, CJI Chandrachud stated that since he is demitting office on November 11, Justice Khanna should be his successor.

CJI DY Chandrachud was first appointed the judge of the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016.

Upon approval by the government, Justice Sanjiv Khanna will become the 51st Chief Justice of India. He is set to serve a tenure of six months, concluding on May 13, 2025, before his retirement.

WHO IS JUSTICE SANJIV KHANNA

Justice Sanjiv Khanna is the second-most senior judge of the Supreme Court. He was enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983.

Initially, Justice Khanna practised in the District Courts at the Tis Hazari complex, New Delhi, and later, in the High Court of Delhi and tribunals in fields as diverse as constitutional law, direct taxation, arbitration, commercial law, company law, land law, environmental law and medical negligence.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna has 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 National Capital Territory of Delhi. He had also appeared and argued in several criminal cases at the Delhi High Court as an Additional Public Prosecutor and as an amicus curie.

Elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005, Justice Khanna was appointed a permanent judge in 2006.

On January 18, 2019, Justice Khanna was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.

He held the post of Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Service Committee from June 17, 2023, until December 25, 2023.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna is presently the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority and a member of the Governing Counsel of the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal.