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12 November, 2024
Sanjiv Khanna: 51st Chief Justice of India
Wed 13 Nov, 2024
Context
Justice Sanjiv Khanna replaced Justice DY Chandrachud as the 51st Chief Justice of India and will hold office till May 13, 2025.
Appointment of Chief Justice and other Judges of Supreme Court
- Article 124 provides for the appointment of the Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court.
- The President appoints the judges of the Supreme Court.
- The President appoints the Chief Justice of India (CJI) after consultation with other judges and judges of the High Courts.
- The 'consultation' of the Chief Justice of India is necessary in the appointment of judges other than the Chief Justice.
Collegium System
Under this system or arrangement, the appointment and transfer of SC judges are decided by a forum consisting of the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
- The collegium of a High Court is headed by its Chief Justice and four other senior-most judges of that court.
Formation of Collegium System
| First Judges Case (1981) | The "primacy" of the suggestion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on judicial appointments and transfers can be rejected due to "cogent reasons". In this, the court said that consultation does not mean agreement, but exchange of views. |
| Second Judges Case (1993) | The Supreme Court changed its earlier decision and said that 'consultation' means 'consensus'. That is, in the case of appointment of judges, the President will have to accept the advice given by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. But here a provision was added that the Chief Justice of India will give this advice only after consulting his two senior-most colleagues. |
| Third Judges Case (1998) | The Chief Justice of India will have to consult four senior-most judges, if the opinion of even two of them is not in favour, then he cannot send a recommendation for appointment. This group of 5 judges is called ‘Collegium’. |
National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)
- It was passed by the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014
- It provides for the formation of an independent commission in place of the collegium system.
Composition:
- Chief Justice of India (Chairman)
- Two other senior judges of the Supreme Court
- Union Minister of Law and Justice
- Two other eminent persons to be nominated by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister of India and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
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- But in the year 2015 the Supreme Court in the Fourth Judges case declared this Act unconstitutional, saying that it would affect the independence of the judiciary, hence the old collegium system was restored.
Supreme Court of India
- Part 5 of the Constitution (Article 124 to Article 147): Mentions the constitution, independence, jurisdiction, powers, procedure, etc. of the Supreme Court.
- Article 124: The original Constitution of 1950 established the Supreme Court with 1 Chief Justice and 7 sub-judges.
- Maximum number of judges: Chief Justice of India and 33 other judges
- The Supreme Court of India has two types of benches: Division Benches and Constitutional Benches
- Division Benches: These benches consist of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) along with two or three other judges.
- Constitutional Benches: These benches consist of five or more judges, and are constituted to decide fundamental questions of law.
- Largest bench ever: Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala case, 1973 (which had 13 judges)