Sanjiv Khanna

Sanjiv Khanna (born 14 May 1960) is a retired Indian jurist who served as the 51st Chief Justice of India from 11 November 2024 to 13 May 2025. He was the ex officio Patron-in-Chief of the National Legal Services Authority and the de facto Chancellor of the National Law School of India University. He has also served as a judge at the Delhi High Court.

Early life and background Sanjiv Khanna was born on 14 May 1960.

Khanna's uncle was Hans Raj Khanna, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. Hans Raj, who propounded the basic structure doctrine in 1973 and famously delivered the lone dissenting judgement in the ADM Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla case, popularly known as the Habeas Corpus case, in 1976, was superseded to the office of the Chief Justice of India by M. H. Beg at the behest of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, protesting which he resigned from the court in early 1977.

Education Khanna completed his schooling at the Modern School, New Delhi, in 1977.

On 24 June 2005, he was elevated as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court and made permanent on 20 February 2006. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on 18 January 2019. Khanna was elevated despite 32 other High Court judges being more senior than him. His elevation sparked controversy within judicial circles; however, his appointment was approved by the Government of India. Khanna took oath as the 51st Chief Justice of India (CJI) after the retirement of Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud on 11 November 2024 during a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Khanna retired as the CJI on 13 May 2025, and was succeeded by Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai as the next CJI. Khanna stated that he would not accept any official roles after his retirement; however, he would seek to remain in the field of law.

Personal life Khanna is married and has two children.