New Delhi. Justice Sanjiv Khanna will take charge as the 51st Chief Justice of the country on Monday, November 11. He will replace Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, who retired on November 9. Justice Sanjiv Khanna is the nephew of Justice Hansraj Khanna, one of the most respected and great justices in the judicial history of India. Justice Sanjeev Khanna’s father Devraj Khanna has also been a judge of Delhi High Court.
Justice Hansraj Khanna, uncle of Justice Sanjeev Khanna, had opposed the abrogation of fundamental rights during the Emergency and had said that the right to life predates the Constitution and hence it cannot be taken away by any legal provision. In the ADM Jabalpur or Habeas Corpus case, he was the only judge in the bench of five judges, who wrote the verdict against the government. This angered the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Justice Hansraj Khanna was not made the Chief Justice. In his place, Junior Justice MH Baig was made the Chief Justice, in protest against which Justice Khanna had resigned.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna was influenced by his uncle, so he did LLB from the Campus Law Center of Delhi University in 1983. After this he started practicing law from Tis Hazari Court of Delhi. Then he was also the Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department and Civil Matters of Delhi Government. In the year 2005, Justice Khanna became the judge of Delhi High Court. After being a judge of Delhi High Court for 13 years, he was promoted as judge of the Supreme Court in 2019. Although at that time he was ranked 33rd in seniority, his name was recommended by the collegium headed by the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.