TAG: GS-2: POLITY
THE CONTEXT: Justice Sanjiv Khanna will be appointed the 51st Chief Justice of India (CJI), succeeding 50th CJI DY Chandrachud.
EXPLANATION:
Why in the news?
- Chief Justice DY Chandrachud recommended Justice Khanna as his successor to the Union law ministry, following established convention.
- Justice Sanjiv Khanna is set to become the 51st Chief Justice of India (CJI) after current CJI DY Chandrachud recommended the appointment in a letter to the Union Law Ministry.
- Justice Khanna, the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court, will take over the post after Justice Chandrachud retires on November 10, 2024.
- Justice Khanna will serve as the CJI for a six-month period before retiring on May 13, 2025.
What is the collegium system in the Indian judiciary?
The Collegium system is a system for the appointment and transfer of judges in the Supreme Court and High Court.
- Under the system, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), along with four senior-most Supreme Court judges, recommends the appointment and transfer of judges.
- A High Court Collegium, meanwhile, is led by the incumbent Chief Justice and the two seniormost judges of that court.
- It is not rooted in the Constitution. Instead, it has evolved through judgments of the Supreme Court.
- The government can also raise objections and seek clarifications regarding the Collegium’s choices, but if the Collegium reiterates the same names, the government is bound to appoint them to the post.
Key facts and qualifications about the Chief Justice of India (CJI):
- The Chief Justice of India (CJI) should be a citizen of India.
- He/she should Have been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or two or more such Courts in succession or
- For at least ten years, an advocate of a High Court or two or more such Courts in succession, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.
Appointment of the CJI:
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- The CJI and the Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.
- As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
- The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the Prime Minister who, in turn, advises the President.
- SC in the Second Judges Case (1993) ruled that the senior most judge of the Supreme Court should alone be appointed to the office of the CJI.
- The SC collegium is headed by CJI and comprises four other senior most judges of the court.
- The collegium system is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the SC (Judges Cases), and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.
Administrative Powers of CJI:
- It is common to refer to the office as primus inter pares – first amongst equals.
- Besides his adjudicatory role, the CJI also plays the role of the administrative head of the Court.
- In his administrative capacity, the Chief Justice exercises the prerogative of allocating cases to particular benches.
- CJI also decides the number of judges that will hear a case.
- Thus, he can influence the result by simply choosing judges that he thinks may favour a particular outcome.
- Such administrative powers can be exercised without collegial consensus, and without any stated reasons.
Removal:
- He can be removed by an order of the President only after an address by Parliament has been presented to President.
- This should be supported by a special majority of each House of Parliament (i.e., by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting).
- Grounds of Removal: Proved misbehaviour or Incapacity (Article 124(4)).
- In 2019, the SC ruled that the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
Admission information
Who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna?
- Justice Khanna was born in May of 1960. He became an advocate in 1983 after registering with the Delhi Bar Council. He started at Delhi’s Tis Hazari complex’s District Courts and made his way up to the Delhi High Court and tribunals.
- He served as the Income Tax Department’s Senior Standing Counsel for a lengthy period of time before being named Standing Counsel (Civil) for Delhi’s National Capital Territory in 2004. While in Delhi High Court he also argued several criminal cases, serving as an Additional Public Prosecutor and an amicus curia (a court-appointed advisor).
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