- The Centre, on October 24, appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI), following the recommendation made by CJI D Y Chandrachud a week earlier.
- Justice Khanna, the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court, will succeed CJI Chandrachud on November 11, a day after the latter’s retirement.
- Justice Khanna will hold the post until May 13, 2025.
Process of Appointing the CJI:
- By convention, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court becomes the CJI.
- The process is detailed in the ‘Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of Supreme Court Judges’ (MoP).
Basis of Appointment:
- The MoP specifies that the CJI must be the senior-most judge considered fit to hold the office.
- The process starts when the Union Minister of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs seeks a recommendation from the incumbent CJI, at least one month before the CJI’s retirement.
- The outgoing CJI sends the recommendation to the Centre, which then approves it.
- The President appoints the CJI following the receipt of this recommendation from the Centre.
Historical Context and Convention:
- The convention of appointing the senior-most SC judge as CJI was reinforced by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government in 1973.
- This convention was broken during Justice A N Ray’s appointment, which overruled three more senior judges.
- In January 1977, the government superseded Justice H R Khanna to appoint Justice M H Beg.
- The convention has generally been adhered to since the 1980s.
MoP and its Evolution:
- The MoP was established following three cases: First Judges Case (1981), Second Judges Case (1993), and Third Judges Case (1998).
- It emphasizes a Collegium system for appointments, which includes senior-most judges.
- The current MoP, created in 1999, outlines the roles of the Centre, the SC, and High Courts in the appointment process.
- The Supreme Court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) in 2015, maintaining the Collegium system.
The appointment process of the CJI, guided by the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) and historical conventions, ensures that the senior-most judge is considered for the role. Despite some past deviations, the process largely adheres to the established Collegium system.
