Justice Sanjiv Khanna to Take Oath as 51st Chief Justice of India on November 11

New Delhi: Justice Sanjiv Khanna, kwn for his role in key Supreme Court rulings like striking down electoral bonds scheme and supporting abrogation of Article 370, will be sworn in as 51st Chief Justice of India on vember 11.

President Droupi Murmu will conduct oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan in a ceremony to be held at 10 am.

Justice Khanna will succeed Justice DY Chandrachud, who retired on Sunday, and will serve as Chief Justice until May 13, 2025.

Centre officially anunced Justice Khanna's appointment on October 24, after it was recommended by Chief Justice Chandrachud on October 16. Friday marked Justice Chandrachud's final working day as Chief Justice, and he was given a warm farewell by judges, lawyers, and staff from Supreme Court and High Courts.

Justice Khanna, who served as a Supreme Court judge since January 2019, has been part of several landmark judgements such as upholding sanctity of EVMs, scrapping electoral bonds scheme, upholding abrogation of Article 370 and grant of interim bail to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal .

Hailing from an illustrious Delhi-based family, Justice Khanna is son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Dev Raj Khanna and nephew of prominent former apex court judge H R Khanna.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was elevated as a judge of Supreme Court on January 18, 2019, was a third-generation lawyer before being appointed as judge of high court. He is driven by zeal to reduce pendency and speed up justice delivery.

Justice H R Khanna, uncle of Justice Khanna, hit helines by resigning in 1976 after he wrote a dissenting verdict in infamous M Jabalpur case during Emergency.

majority verdict of a Constitution bench, upholding abrogation of fundamental rights during Emergency, was considered a "black spot" on judiciary.

Justice H R Khanna declared move unconstitutional and against rule of law and paid a price as n central government superseded him and me Justice M H Beg next CJI.

Justice H R Khanna was part of landmark verdict propounding basic structure doctrine in Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973.

Among table judgments of Justice Sanjiv Khanna in Supreme Court is upholding use of electronic voting machines in elections, saying devices were secure and eliminated booth capturing and bogus voting.

A bench heed by Justice Khanna, on April 26, termed suspicion of manipulation of EVMs "unfounded" and rejected demand for reverting to old paper ballot system.

He was also part of five-judge bench that declared electoral bond scheme, meant for funding political parties, as unconstitutional.

Justice Khanna was a part of five-judge bench, which upheld Centre's 2019 decision abrogating Article 370 of Constitution which granted a special status to erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

It was Justice Khanna-led bench, which for first time, granted interim bail to Kejriwal, n chief minister, till June 1 to campaign in Lok Sabha elections in excise policy scam cases.

Born on May 14, 1960, he studied law at Campus Law Centre of Delhi University.

Justice Khanna was executive chairman of National Legal Service Authority (NALSA).

He enrolled as an vocate with Bar Council of Delhi in 1983 and initially practised in District Courts at TisHazari complex here and later, in Delhi High Court.

He h a long tenure as senior standing counsel for Income Tax Department. In 2004, he was appointed as standing counsel (Civil) for National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Justice Khanna h also argued in a number of criminal cases at Delhi High Court as an ditional public prosecutor and as an amicus curiae.

(with ncy inputs)