Supreme Court Justice Sanjeev Khanna was appointed Chief Justice. He will be sworn in on November 11. The day before, the current Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was about to retire.
Justice Khanna’s term as chief justice was only about six months. He will retire on May 13, 2025. Justice Khanna was appointed as a Supreme Court judge on January 18, 2019. Prior to this, he served as a judge of the Delhi High Court for about 14 years.
Justice Khanna was one of the five-judge Constitution bench that declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional. Justice Khanna granted interim bail to former Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
He was one of the five-judge bench that upheld the Centre’s decision to delete Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Justice Khanna is the nephew of former Supreme Court Justice HR Khanna.
In this case, do you know how Supreme Court justices are appointed? How is the Chief Justice appointed? What are the salaries of the Chief Justice and judges?
How is it decided who will be the Chief Justice?
To understand this, it’s important to understand how Supreme Court justices are created. The collegium recommended the appointment of a Supreme Court judge.
There are only Supreme Court judges in the collegium. The collegium sends the list of judges to the central government. Judges are appointed in the Supreme Court after approval by the Centre.
The day a judge takes the oath of office on the Supreme Court determines whether he becomes chief justice. Many times, two judges who are sworn in on the same day become the senior judge and the junior judge respectively. This is only a matter of two or three minutes.
For example, Justice Deepak Mishra and Justice Chelameswar took oath in the Supreme Court on the same day. But because he took the oath first, Justice Deepak Mishra was promoted to senior judge and became the chief justice.
However, if multiple judges take the oath on the same day, which judge will take the oath, and the order of oaths will also be determined by the order of seniority.
Timetable fixed until 2027
Currently, the timetable for the judges who will take over the post of Chief Justice by 2027 has been determined. Justice Sanjeev Khanna will serve as the Chief Justice from November 11, 2024 to May 13, 2025. Justice HR Khanna, uncle of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, is also the senior most judge of the Supreme Court. But the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reportedly did not appoint him as Chief Justice and he resigned out of anger.
Following Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice BR Gavai will be appointed for a period from May 14, 2025 to November 13, 2025, i.e. a total of six months. After him will be the turn of Justice Surya Kant. Justice Surya Kant will serve in this position for approximately one and one-quarter years, from November 24, 2025 to February 9, 2027.
After the retirement of Justice Surya Kant on February 9, 2027, Justice Vikram Nath can become the Chief Justice. Justice Vikram Nath will continue to serve as Chief Justice for a term of four months. After him, Justice Biwi Nagarathna can become the Chief Justice. However, her tenure in this position was only 36 days. Justice Bibi Nagarathna will become the first woman Chief Justice of the country.
What is the salary of the Chief Justice?
The pay of the Chief Justice and his judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts was last revised in January 2016.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the salary of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is Rs 280,000 per month and the salary of the judges is Rs 250,000 per month. This means that Justice Khanna’s salary so far is Rs 2.5 lakh, but after becoming the Chief Justice, his salary will be Rs 2.8 lakh.
After retirement, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court receives an annual pension of Rs 1.68 million and the judges receive Rs 1.5 million. In addition to this, a tip of 20 lakh rupees is also given.
Meanwhile, the salary of the Chief Justice of the state high courts is Rs 2.5 lakh and the salary of the judges is Rs 2.25 lakh per month. After retirement, the Chief Justice of the High Court receives a pension of Rs 1.5 million per year and the judges receive a pension of Rs 1.35 million per year. High Court judges and the Chief Justice also receive an honorarium of Rs 20 lakh.
