Justice Sanjiv Khanna To Take Oath Today As 51st Chief Justice Of India

President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath of office to Justice Sanjiv Khanna at 10am.

Justice Khanna will serve a six-month tenure as the Chief Justice of India and is expected to retire on May 13, 2025.

Justice Khanna, 64, is the son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Dev Raj Khanna and the nephew of prominent former Supreme Court judge H R Khanna.

He started his legal career in 1983 as an advocate with the Delhi Bar Council. He was elevated to the Delhi High Court in 2005 and to the Supreme Court in 2019.

He has experience in a wide range of legal fields, including constitutional law, taxation, arbitration, commercial law, and environmental law.

He also worked as senior standing counsel for the Income Tax Department, representing the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Justice Khanna has been part of several landmark judgments -- including upholding the sanctity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and the scrapping of Article 370 that gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status.

A bench he led also declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional, underscoring the need for transparency in political funding.

He was also part of the bench that granted interim bail to then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the Lok Sabha election, enabling him to campaign for the May0June Lok Sabha election this year.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, meanwhile, became emotional on his last working day. Reflecting on his tenure, he said, "There is no greater feeling than being able to serve those in need."