New Delhi: Outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday (May 13) said he would not accept any any post-retirement official assignments and would something related with law.
May 13 was the last working day of CJI Khanna, who was appointed as the CJI on November 11, 2024 after retirement of Justice DY Chandrachud.
“I will not accept any post-retirement post … .perhaps will do something with law,” CJI Khanna said while interacting with journalist in the apex court premises and added, “I will have a third innings and will do something related to law.”
CJI Khanna expressed his confidence in Justice Gavai’s leadership and his commitment to constitutional values
CJI Khanna, earlier in the day while sitting in the ceremonial bench, called next CJI BR Gavai, who would assume the CJI office on May 14, his “biggest support” and expressed his confidence in Justice Gavai’s leadership and his commitment to constitutional values.
The ceremonial bench comprised CJI Khanna, CJI-designate BR Gavai and Justice Sanjay Kumar.
“What to say about justice and CJI designate BR Gavai, we got elevated the same year. Here we are in the collegium, and thereafter, we have interacted on several occasions. And I must say, he has been my biggest support. And I am sure that you have in Justice Gavai an excellent chief justice who’s going to uphold the institution and who’s going to uphold the fundamental rights who’s going to uphold our basic doctrines which we have adopted and applied,” CJI Khanna said.
Justice Gavai praised CJI Khanna for his clarity, moral conviction, and commitment to fundamental rights
Describing CJI Khanna’s judgments as “simple, elegant, and imbued with constitutional values”, Justice Gavai praised CJI Khanna for his clarity, moral conviction, and commitment to fundamental rights. While acknowledging the weight of legacy Justice Khanna bore being the nephew of Justice HR Khanna, the lone dissenter in the 1976 ADM Jabalpur case who stood for constitutional rights during the emergency , Justice Gavai said CJI Khanna embraced his legacy and built his own.
“To walk in the shadow of such a name is no small task but Justice Sanjiv Khanna did more than uphold that legacy he made it his own,” Justice Gavai said.
CJI Khanna-headed bench heard pleas on Places of Worship Act
CJI Khanna-headed bench, while hearing several pleas and cross-pleas involving Places of Worship Act, restrained all courts in the country from passing any interim or final orders on pending petitions seeking to reclaim religious places. The order by the CJI Khanna-headed bench effectively stalled proceedings in several lawsuits filed by various Hindu parties seeking survey to ascertain original religious character of several mosques, including Gyanvapi at Varanasi, Shahi Idgah Masjid at Mathura and Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal.
CJI Khanna-headed bench also heard pleas challenging constitutional validity of the Waqf Act
CJI Khanna-headed bench also heard pleas challenging constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and during one of the hearings, took into record the submissions of the Centre, which strongly opposed passing of an interim order without hearing it, that waqf properties, including “waqf by user”, will not be denotified and no appointments will be made to the central waqf council and boards till May 5, the next date of hearing. The bench also granted time to the Centre to file its response to the pleas.
On May 5, CJI Khanna-headed bench marked the pleas challenging constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 to his successor Justice B R Gavai’s bench, saying the matter requires early hearing and he did not want to reserve any judgment or order at interim stage.
“There are certain aspects which you (Centre) dealt with, but that require clarification. I do not want to reserve any judgment or order at this interim stage. This matter will have to be heard on a reasonably early date and this will not be before me. We will post it before the bench of Justice Gavai for both interim and final orders,” CJI Khanna said on May 5.
CJI Khanna-headed bench censured BJP MP Nishikant Dubey over remarks against Supreme Court, CJI
CJI Khanna-headed bench censured BJP MP Nishikant Dubey in an order in a plea seeking initiation of suo motu criminal contempt proceedings against him for making remarks against the Supreme Court and the CJI.
Dubey criticised the Supreme Court for hearing pleas challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, saying “(the) Supreme Court is taking the country towards anarchy” and naming CJI Khanna as “responsible for all the civil wars happening in India.”
Though the top court dismissed the plea seeking contempt action against Dubey for his remarks but said that his remarks were were highly irresponsible and reflect a penchant to attract attention by casting aspersions on the Supreme Court of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court and that the assertions made by him tend to scandalize and lower the authority of the Supreme Court of India, if not interfere or tend to interfere with the judicial proceedings pending before it, and have the tendency to interfere and obstruct the administration of justice.
CJI Khanna took various steps towards judicial transparency
During his brief yet eventful six-month long tenure, CJI Khanna took various steps towards judicial transparency, including mandating public disclosure of assets of Supreme Court judges and opening the records of the collegium for public scrutiny. CJI Khanna also dealt with matters involving judges, including the cash discovery row involving Justice Yashwant Varma.
Justice Khanna was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on January 18, 2019
Justice Khanna was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on January 18, 2019 and he has been a part of several landmark judgments at the top court, including upholding the sanctity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), scrapping the Electoral Bonds Scheme, upholding the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the grant of interim bail to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi Excise Policy case.
