Why is it in the news?

• The Centre has appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) on October 24, officially endorsing the recommendation made by CJI D Y Chandrachud.
• Justice Khanna, the seniormost judge in the Supreme Court, will assume the role a day after CJI Chandrachud’s retirement on November 10. He is set to serve for a little over six months, until his retirement on May 13, 2025. Notably, CJI Chandrachud’s two-year term is one of the longest in recent years.

Process of Appointment

• The appointment of the CJI follows a conventional practice that stipulates the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court, based on years of experience, is promoted to this role.
• This process is codified in the ‘Memorandum of Procedure for the appointment of Supreme Court Judges’ (MoP). According to the MoP, the appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be made from the seniormost judge considered fit for the position.
• Even before the MoP was established in 1999, the tradition of elevating the seniormost judge after the CJI remained in practice.

Initiation of the Appointment Process

• The MoP specifies that the appointment process begins when the Union Minister of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs seeks the outgoing Chief Justice’s recommendation for the next CJI.
• Conventionally, this inquiry is initiated about a month prior to the incumbent CJI’s retirement date. CJI Chandrachud submitted his recommendation to the Centre on October 17.

Central Government Approval

• Once the Chief Justice’s recommendation is received, the Union Minister of Law presents it to the Prime Minister, who advises the President on the appointment.
• While the Centre has the final authority to appoint the next CJI, it typically respects the recommendation made by the outgoing Chief Justice.

Historical Departures from Convention

• There have been rare instances where this convention was not upheld. A notable example is the appointment of Justice A N Ray as CJI in 1973 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government, which bypassed three senior judges: Justices J M Shelat, K S Hegde, and A N Grover.
• Justice Ray was viewed as more aligned with government interests. His appointment coincided with a significant Supreme Court ruling in the Kesavananda Bharati case, which established the “basic structure” doctrine.
• Additionally, in January 1977, the Indira government once again deviated from the convention by superseding Justice H R Khanna to appoint Justice M H Beg as CJI.
• Justice Khanna was the sole dissenter in the ADM Jabalpur vs. Shiv Kant Shukla case, where the majority upheld the government’s position that fundamental rights were suspended during the national Emergency.

Establishment of the Memorandum of Procedure

• The development of the MoP followed critical Supreme Court rulings: the First Judges Case (1981), Second Judges Case (1993), and Third Judges Case (1998).
• These rulings initiated a peer selection process for appointing High Court and Supreme Court judges, leading to the establishment of the Supreme Court Collegium, which consists of the seniormost judges of the Supreme Court. The Centre is technically obligated to accept its recommendations.
• First created in 1999, the MoP outlines the procedures and responsibilities of the Centre, the Supreme Court, and High Courts in the appointment process. This document is crucial since the Collegium system is a judicial innovation not explicitly mandated by legislation or constitutional text.
• In 2015, the Supreme Court annulled a constitutional amendment aimed at establishing the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), which would have granted the Centre greater influence in recommending judges.
• Following this ruling, the MoP was renegotiated in 2016, although the government maintained until recently that it was still being finalized.