Who is Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the judge who recused himself from same-sex marriage review?

Justice Sanjiv Khanna recused from same sex marriage hearing

On July 10, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was a part of the bench formed to review the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage judgment, asked that he be excused from case or in judicial terms, recused himself.

As a consequence, the hearing of the review plea will now be deferred till Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud constitutes a new bench.

The review was to be heard by a bench led by CJI Chandrachud and comprising justices Khanna, Hima Kohli, BV  Nagarathna and PS Narasimha.

Khanna is next in line to become  the CJI after Chandrachud retires in November. He will serve as the CJI from November 10, 2024, to May 13, 2025. Khanna is currently the senior-most judge in the apex court after the CJI.

Elevated to the Supreme Court in January 2019, Khanna is related to legendary judge Hans Raj Khanna, who resigned from his apex court judgeship during the emergency. Khanna’s appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court caused a controversy as he was appointed directly to the top court despite there being 33 judges senior to him in age and experience. However, the controversy died down merely months after his appointment.

Prior to becoming a judge of the apex court, Khanna was a judge in the Delhi High Court for 14 years from 2005. Known for his expertise in taxation and other commercial laws, Khanna has authored various important judgments over the last two decades.

Education and career

Khanna was born on May 14, 1960, and pursued a degree in law degree at Delhi University. After enrolling as a lawyer with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983, he began his practice in Delhi’s district courts . He subsequently switched to Delhi High Court and tribunals. He practiced in the fields of constitutional law, direct taxes, arbitration and commercial matters, company law, land laws, environment and pollution laws, and medical negligence. According to his profile on the Supreme Court website, “He (Khanna) had also argued a number of criminal cases in the Delhi High Court as an Additional Public Prosecutor, and on appointment by the Court as an amicus curia.”

However, Khanna is best remembered by his colleagues and juniors for being a very effective lawyer on the taxation side, as he had a long tenure of about seven years as the senior standing counsel for the Income Tax Department in the Delhi High Court. Incidentally, Khanna was a lawyer of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for a brief while before being elevated to judgeship.

Career as a judge

In April 2024, Khanna passed a judgment dismissing a plea for cross-verification of the votes cast on electronic voting machines (EVMs) with the VVPAT or voter verifiable paper audit trail. The judgment he authored spoke extensively about the sanctity of EVMs and trust in the Election Commission of India (ECI).

In March 2024, his bench had junked an application seeking a stay on a law pertaining to the appointment of election commissioners. He opined that in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha election and the balance of convenience (a legal principle to determine if a matter is worth hearing)  , it was not in favour of granting a stay of the holding of polls. The court also criticised the government for appointing the election commissioners in a hurry. "You could have gone slower," Khanna said in his judgment.

Earlier, in March 2023, a bench led by Khanna had denied bail to Bharat Rasthra Samithi leader and Telangana member of the legislative council K Kavitha in a liquor policy case. The bench asked Kavitha to file for bail in the trial court and not approach the apex court directly.

Khanna was also a part of the bench that in February 2024 struck down the constitutional validity of the electoral bonds scheme. He had in fact authored a concurring opinion to the majority view.

Another historic ruling the senior Supreme Court judge was part of was the upholding of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Here too, Khanna had authored a concurring view to the majority judgment.

In October 2023, a bench led by Khanna refused to grant bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

Khanna's recusal comes exactly two months to the day he granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to campaign in the now-concluded Lok Sabha election.