Supreme Court Justice Sanjeev Khanna was appointed Chief Justice. He will be sworn in on November 11. A day earlier, current Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will retire.
Justice Khanna will remain chief justice for only about six months. His retirement is on May 13, 2025. Justice Khanna was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019. Prior to this, he was a judge of the Delhi High Court for about 14 years.
Justice Khanna was part of the constitutional group of five judges who had declared the electoral bond system unconstitutional. It was Justice Khanna who granted interim bail to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections.
He was included in the five-judge bench that had upheld the Centre’s decision to scrap Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Justice Khanna is the nephew of former Supreme Court judge HR Khanna.
In such a situation, do you know how a judge is appointed in the Supreme Court? How is the president of the Supreme Court appointed? What is the salary of the Chief Justice and judges?
How is it decided who will be the president of the Supreme Court?
To understand this, it is important to know how Supreme Court judges are trained. The college recommends the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
There are only judges of the Supreme Court in the college. This college sends the names of the judges to the central government. After obtaining approval from the Centre, the judge is appointed to the Supreme Court.
The day a judge is sworn in at the Supreme Court, it is decided whether he will be chief justice or not. Many times, the two judges who take the oath on the same day become senior and junior. This is only a matter of two or three minutes.
For example, Justice Deepak Mishra and Justice Chelameswar took oath before the Supreme Court on the same day. But because he took oath first, Justice Deepak Mishra rose to high rank and became Chief Justice.
However, if multiple judges are sworn in on the same day, the order of seniority also decides which judge will be sworn in and in what order.
The calendar is set until 2027.
Currently, the schedule of judges who will take over as Chief Justice until 2027 is fixed. Justice Sanjeev Khanna will be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from November 11, 2024 to May 13, 2025. Justice Sanjiv Khanna’s uncle, Justice HR Khanna, was also the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court. But it is said that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not appoint him Chief Justice, so he resigned out of anger.
After Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice BR Gavai will hold this post from May 14, 2025 to November 13, 2025, i.e. for a total of six months. After him will come the turn of Judge Surya Kant. Justice Surya Kant will hold this position for approximately one and a quarter years, from November 24, 2025 to February 9, 2027.
Following the retirement of Justice Surya Kant on February 9, 2027, Justice Vikram Nath may become the Chief Justice. Justice Vikram Nath will remain the Chief Justice for four months. After him, Justice Biwi Nagarathna can become the Chief Justice. However, he will remain in this position for only 36 days. Justice Bibi Nagarathna will be the country’s first female Chief Justice.
What is the salary of the Chief Justice?
The salaries of the Chief Justice and High Court and their judges were last reviewed in January 2016.
According to the Justice Department, the salary of the Chief Justice is Rs 2.80 lakh and the salary of his judges is Rs 2.50 lakh per month. That means Justice Khanna was getting a salary of Rs 2.50 lakh till now, but after becoming Chief Justice, he will get a salary of Rs 2.80 lakh.
After retirement, the Chief Justice receives an annual pension of Rs 16.80 lakh and judges receive Rs 15 lakh. Apart from this, a tip of Rs 20 lakh is also given.
At the same time, the Chief Justice of all states receives a salary of Rs 2.50 lakh and judges receive a salary of Rs 2.25 lakh every month. After retirement, the Chief Justice receives an annual pension of Rs 15 lakh and judges receive Rs 13.50 lakh. The High Court judges and the Chief Justice also receive a gratuity of Rs 20 lakh.
