Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna retired today marking the end of a more than two-decades long judicial career. His last day in the Supreme Court was much like his tenure as top judge – quiet and without much fanfare.
Unlike his predecessors, where the office of the Chief Justice of India got much limelight, CJI Khanna shied away from publicity and avoided out-of-court controversies.
On his last day in court, members of the bar recalled CJI Khanna’s two-decades-long tenure as a judge, first with the Delhi High Court and later as a Supreme Court judge. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti said CJI Khanna “deglamourised” the CJI's court and filled it with “grace and professionalism” while senior advocate Raju Ramchandran said the top judge has shown us that the “proof of the pudding is in the judging and not in the speaking”.
CJI Khanna championed transparency of the office when he uploaded details of the Justice Yashwant Varma cash-at-home scandal—including videos/photos of the burnt cash—and made public the Memorandum of Procedure on the elevation of judges including the list of all judges recommended by the collegium for elevation to the high court and its reasons therein.
CJI Khanna will also be known for heading the full-court meeting of the supreme court judges where they decided to upload their assets for public scrutiny.
CJI Khanna retires as the 51st CJI
CJI Khanna succeeded ex-CJI DY Chandrachud who left a legacy of his own. Many speculated that CJI Khanna had large shoes to fill. A third-generation lawyer, CJI Khanna is an alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School and Delhi University’s Campus Law Centre which has seen other illustrious alumna including several judges from the Supreme Court.
Born on May 14, 1960, CJI Khanna’s father was ex-Delhi High Court judge Dev Raj Khanna and his uncle was the ex-Supreme Court judge HR Khanna. In 1983, CJI Khanna enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi and began his practice at Delhi’s Tis Hazari District Court. His practice at the Delhi High Court was primarily in taxation and company law but he also dabbled in public law matters, civil matters, environment and pollution laws matters, among others.
In June 2005, CJI Khanna was elevated to the Delhi High Court as an additional judge and became a permanent judge eight months later.
CJI Khanna’s elevation to the Supreme Court in January 2019 raised eyebrows, as the Supreme Court collegium—comprising the top five judges of the top court—recommended him, despite being 33rd in the seniority list, overlooking Chief Justices Rajendra Menon (Delhi High Court) and Pradeep Nandrajog (Rajasthan High Court) who were allegedly in the zone of consideration and had been recommended for promotion to the top court before the composition of the collegium changed after Justice Madan Lokur’s retirement in December 2018.
CJI Khanna is also one of the few judges who was directly elevated to the Supreme Court from their parent high court. Interestingly, this was also the first time CJI Khanna headed a court on the administrative front since he was elevated directly and has never held the position of the chief justice of any high court.
Under the shadow of Justice HR Khanna
CJI Khanna has often been cast in the shadow of his uncle Justice HR Khanna who is best known for two iconic judgments – part of the constitution bench that delivered the Kesavananda Bharti judgment which established the basic structure doctrine and his iconic sole dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case where he argued against suspension of civil rights and cost him the Chief Justiceship.
“To walk in the shadow of Justice HR Khanna is no small task,” CJI-designate BR Gavai said on CJI Khanna’s last day in court. “It demanded the strength of conviction and an unwavering commitment to constitutional values. His judgments have strengthened the foundations of our democracy particularly, in the area of personal liberty, rule of law, and fraternity,” CJI-designate Gavai said for his colleague.
“It is nothing short of a poetic justice. History has come full circle, not with fanfare but with a dignity that defines him. The decision to upload the assets of judges on the website and making public the process of appointment of judges reflects CJI Khanna’s due commitment to transparency,” CJI-designate Gavai said. “For a significant part of his career, CJI Khanna sat in the very courtroom where the portrait of Justice HR Khanna hangs. This must have been a deeply personal and emotional connection,” he added.
However, CJI Khanna is quick to dismiss this saying he couldn’t compare himself to his distinguished uncle. “Those times were different,” CJI Khanna said during his interaction with the press.
CJI Khanna was also quick to confirm that he would not “accept” any post-retirement post. However, he confirmed that a book was on the cards and would “perhaps do something with law”.
CJI Khanna’s quiet demeanor betrays an iron will and patience. "Judicial thinking has to be decisive and adjudicatory. Lawyers are argumentative, journalists inquisitive but a judge must weigh the pros and cons of arguments before we decide on the issue rationally," he said during an informal chat with the media post the ceremonial bench. “When we do take that decision, then the future tells you whether what you did was correct or not," he said on Justice Yashwant Varma controversy that plagued the last days of his career.
“Just one minute”
On his last day in court, members of the bar recalled CJI Khanna’s tenure as a Delhi High Court judge and later as a judge of the Supreme Court. Many expressed hilarious relief over being free from the burden of “just one minute” deadline CJI Khanna often imposed on arguing lawyers.
“Just one minute” was CJI Khanna's oft-repeated caution to lawyers prompting them to wrap up their arguments within deadline. Senior advocate Balbir Singh recalled how their headaches began on the 60th second of their argument, while Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti playfully quipped: “Thankfully, today, you have not said ‘one minute’.”
Recalling CJI Khanna’s judgments
During his career, CJI Khanna gave several judgments that will be studied for years to come and are known for their boldness. For the purpose of this story, we will be limiting to his decisions as a Supreme Court judge only.
His decision on whether the Right to Information Act (RTI) is applicable to the office of the CJI is one of the first and foremost decisions CJI Khanna will be known for. In November 2019, Justice Khanna, as he then was, ruled that RTI requests must be decided on a case-by-case basis and that judicial independence was not necessarily at odds with one’s right to information. The judgment authored by CJI Khanna also brought the CJI’s office under the purview of the RTI.
CJI Khanna held that the Supreme Court has the power to grant divorces on grounds of “irretrievable breakdown of marriage”. CJI Khanna was also part of the benches that ruled electoral bonds as unconstitutional, upheld the constitutionality of the abrogation of Article 370, and junked a plea for 100% verification through Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system.
CJI Khanna also dealt with politically sensitive matters including granting bail to AAP leader and ex-Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. In a first-of-its-kind order, in May 2024 Justice Khanna-led bench granted a three-week bail to Kejriwal observing the peculiar situation with a sitting Chief Minister being behind bars and allowing him to campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
But perhaps, CJI Khanna will be most notable for his decisions in pleas challenging the Places of Worship Act, 1991 and the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 along with the Justice Yashwant Varma cash-at-home scandal.
At the end of 2024, CJI Khanna stepped in and halted new pleas while preventing courts from passing any new orders on this issue till the Supreme Court did not adjudicate on the constitutionality of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The survey orders passed by certain courts had resulted in a charged atmosphere and communal violence.
CJI Khanna’s-bench intervened in the Waqf Amendment case and raised concerns on certain amendments that were passed by the parliament. CJI Khanna’s statement – “When we sit here, we lose our religion. We are secular” will be remembered for ages.
CJI Khanna was also a victim of hate speech when BJP leader Nishikant Dubey attacked the top judge saying he is “responsile for the civil war”. Though contemptuous, CJI Khanna’s bench simply censured Dubey and chose not to pursue contempt proceedings. In his judgment, CJI Khanna reasoned that the shoulders of the judiciary were strong enough to withstand criticism and public confidence in the judiciary won't be affected by such absurd remarks.
