Having been part of a number of historic judgments, Justice Sanjiv Khanna on Monday took oath because the 51st Chief Justice of India, succeeding Justice DY Chandrachud.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Justice Khanna on the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
A 64-year-old Justice Khanna will serve a six-month tenure because the Chief Justice of India, contemplating that he’s more likely to retire on Might 13, 2025.
As Justice Chandrachud handed on the CJI baton to Justice Khanna, listed here are some main circumstances that he’s more likely to chair. Notably, the below-mentioned circumstances had been all heard by a CJI-led bench, implying that they are going to now come below the purview of CJI Sanjiv Khanna.
Minority standing of AMU
Simply final week, the Supreme Courtroom ordered the re-evaluation of the minority standing of the Aligarh Muslim College. By a 4-3 majority, the apex courtroom, overruled its 1967 judgment within the Azeez Basha case that grew to become the idea for denying AMU the minority standing.
The highest courtroom bench’s majority comprised of former CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. It directed that AMU’s standing can be decided afresh following the ideas that superior within the current verdict.
The bulk held, “The choice in Azeez Basha is overruled. The query of deciding the minority standing of AMU have to be executed on the idea of the exams laid down within the current case. Papers to be positioned earlier than the CJI for constituting a bench to determine the problem and correctness of 2006 judgement of the Allahabad excessive courtroom.”
Although a date for re-evaluation listening to isn’t but introduced, a bench comprising or headed by now CJI Sanjiv Khanna is more likely to take up the matter.
Marital rape case
The Supreme Courtroom in October this 12 months deferred listening to a batch of pleas searching for criminalisation of marital rape, with CJI Chandrachud citing his retirement — November 10, 2024.
Chandrachud had determined to let a unique bench deal with the contentious challenge, concluding that there wouldn’t be sufficient time for the apex courtroom bench to finish the hearings and challenge a judgment earlier than his departure from the workplace.
The case was deferred by 4 weeks, set to be listed by a brand new bench after Justice Chandrachud’s retirement because the CJI.
The case sparked a lot debate throughout the society over the legality of the constitutional exemption that protects husbands from prosecution for rape inside marriage below Indian Penal Code (IPC) Part 375. The Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita — which changed the IPC in July this 12 months — additionally defines an analogous provision of immunity for husbands.
A bench led by CJI Chandrachud, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had taken up the ultimate listening to of the case in October after a hiatus of over one 12 months.
Nonetheless, after assessing the time requested for submissions by events within the case, CJI Chandrachud deemed it finest for the case to be dealt with by a brand new bench.
Because the query of whether or not marital rape will likely be criminalized stays unresolved in the interim, the case is more likely to fall below the brand new CJI’s — CJI Sanjiv Khanna — purview.
CJI Sanjiv Khanna
It’s noteworthy that Justice Sanjiv Khanna has been part of a number of landmark Supreme Courtroom judgments, together with upholding the abrogation of Article 370 and scrapping of the electoral bonds.
Actually, an apex courtroom bench led by Justice Khanna was the one which granted interim bail to Aam Aadmi Get together chief Arvind Kejriwal within the excise coverage rip-off case for the primary time.
Justice Khanna, who enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi as an advocate in 1983, was elevated to the Supreme Courtroom of India on January 18, 2019.
