Justice Sanjiv Khanna has officially taken office as the 51st Chief Justice of India, succeeding Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Justice Khanna in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. His term will span nearly seven months, concluding on May 13, 2025.
Justice Khanna was elevated to the Supreme Court from the Delhi High Court on January 18, 2019.
**Notable Judgments of Justice Khanna**
Justice Khanna was part of the bench that took suo motu cognizance of media reports regarding sexual harassment allegations against then-CJI Ranjan Gogoi in April 2019.
In 2019, he authored the lead judgment for the Constitution Bench, ruling that the Right to Information (RTI) Act applies to the office of the Chief Justice of India. His judgment in *Amish Devgan v. Union of India* is also significant for its emphasis on the need to regulate hate speech.
In 2021, Justice Sanjiv Khanna dissented from a 2-judge majority, holding that proper procedures had not been followed for the Central Vista project. He also authored the Constitution Bench judgment establishing that an irretrievable breakdown of marriage can serve as grounds for the Supreme Court to dissolve a marriage under its Article 142 powers.
Justice Khanna presided over politically sensitive cases involving bail applications for Aam Aadmi Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh in the Delhi liquor policy case. In 2023, his bench denied bail to Manish Sisodia but ordered the trial to proceed promptly. In Sanjay Singh’s case, the Enforcement Directorate agreed to grant bail following questions from Justice Khanna’s bench.
In May this year, in a landmark order, Justice Khanna’s bench granted interim bail to then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for election campaigning purposes. In July, the bench again granted interim bail to Kejriwal and referred the case to a larger bench to assess whether additional grounds for arrest under the PMLA are needed to prevent misuse of the law.
Justice Khanna’s bench also handled the EVM-VVPAT case. While denying a plea for 100% VVPAT verification, the judgment directed the Election Commission of India to implement additional safeguards.
He was also part of the Constitution Bench rulings in the Article 370 and Electoral Bonds cases. In the Electoral Bonds case, he wrote a separate concurring opinion, highlighting how the anonymity of the scheme infringed upon Constitutional rights.
