Judgment reserved

Justice Chandrachud’s record as CJI appears to be a mixed bag, while his successor, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, will always be compared with his uncle, Justice H.R. Khanna, who stood up to the government during Emergency

-  SONI MISHRA

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who will take over as CJI on November 11, are connected by a significant moment in the history of Indian judiciary.

Chandrachud’s father, former CJI Y.V. Chandrachud, and Justice Khanna’s uncle, Justice H.R. Khanna, were on a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court which delivered its verdict in the historic ADM Jabalpur case in 1976. Chandrachud senior was one of the four judges who upheld the presidential order that barred anyone detained from seeking relief through a habeas corpus or any other writ filed in the high court. Khanna senior was the lone dissenting voice that spoke up for upholding the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

A life-size portrait of Justice H.R. Khanna adorns the wall of Court Number Two in the Supreme Court. It was unveiled in 1978 and serves as a symbol of judicial independence. More than four decades later, in January 2019, Justice Sanjiv Khanna began his work as Supreme Court judge from the same courtroom.

Justice H.R. Khanna’s bold stand perhaps cost him the CJI’s post. Justice M.H. Beg, who was junior to him, was elevated to the top post by the Indira Gandhi government in 1977. He had resigned and demitted office in court number two soon after. When Khanna junior assumed his seat in court number two on his first day as a Supreme Court judge in 2019, he did look up at his uncle’s portrait for a few seconds. Now, as he is set to take over as the CJI, it may well be a case of poetic justice.