Explained | Process for appointment of CJI

• Chief Justice of India Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud has proposed the name of Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India in a letter to the Union law ministry.

• The letter is written as per convention where the retiring Chief Justice of India nominates the second-most senior judge as successor, whose recommendation has to be approved by the Union government. 

• Once the Centre clears his recommendation, Justice Khanna will become the 51st Chief Justice of India for another seven months, till his retirement on May 13, 2025.

• Judges of the Supreme Court retire by the age of 65 and CJI Chandrachud is demitting office on November 10, 2024.

Process for appointment of CJI

• The Chief Justice of India and the judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.

• According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which governs the process of appointment of judges in higher judiciary, the outgoing CJI initiates the process of naming the successor after getting a communication from the law ministry. 

• The MoP, however, does not specify the time limit for the initiation of the process of recommending the name of the successor CJI.

• Appointment to the office of the CJI should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office. 

• The Union minister of law, justice and company affairs would, at the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.

• Whenever there is any doubt about the fitness of the senior-most Judge to hold the office of the Chief Justice of India, consultation with other judges as envisaged in Article 124(2) of the Constitution would be made for appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.

• After receipt of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, the Union minister of law, justice and company affairs will put up the recommendation to the Prime Minister who will advise the President in the matter of appointment.

Who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna?

• Justice Sanjiv Khanna was born on May 14, 1960.

• He enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983. He initially practiced in the District Courts in Delhi, and later, in the High Court of Delhi and tribunals. 

• In 2004, he was appointed as the Standing Counsel (Civil) for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. 

• He was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005 and was made a permanent judge in 2006.

• He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India in January 2019.

• Justice Khanna was part of the bench that ruled in favour of the government in the Article 370 abrogation. He has also struck down the electoral bonds scheme.

• In May 2023, Justice Khanna was part of a bench that held that the Supreme Court can have the discretion to dissolve the marriage by passing a decree of divorce by mutual consent on the grounds of ‘irretrievable breakdown’ by invoking powers under Article 142.

• Justice Khanna was also part of the five-judge Constitution Bench which upheld the 2010 landmark judgment of the Delhi High Court bringing the Chief Justice of India’s office under Right to Information.