Chief Justice of India

Chief Justice of India
Bhārat kē Mukhya Nyāyādhīśa
Insignia of the SCI
Supreme court Flag
Incumbent Sanjiv Khanna
Supreme Court
Type	Chief Justice
Status	Presiding Judge of Supreme Court of India
Abbreviation	CJI
Residence	5, Krishna Menon Marg, Sunehri Bagh, New Delhi, India[1]
Seat	Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, India
Nominator	Outgoing Chief Justice of India, generally on the basis of Seniority
Appointer	President of India
Term length	Until the age of 65 [2]
Constituting instrument	Constitution of India (under Article 124)
Formation	28 January 1950; 74 years ago (1950-01-28)
First holder	H. J. Kania (1950–1951)[3]
Succession	6th (on the Indian order of precedence)
Salary	₹280,000 (US$3,400) (per month)[4]
Website	sci.gov.in

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The Chief Justice of India (CJI) (ISO: Bhārat kē Mukhya Nyāyādhīśa) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the President of India to appoint, as recommended by the outgoing chief justice in consultation with other judges, (as envisaged in Article 124 (2) of the Constitution)^[5] the next chief justice, who will serve until they reach the age of 65 or are removed by the constitutional process of impeachment.

As per convention, the successor suggested by the incumbent chief justice is most often the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court. However, this convention has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed, superseding three senior judges, and in 1977 when Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as chief justice, superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.

As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches that deal with important matters of law.^[6] In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice has to allocate work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter back to them (for re-allocation) in any case where they require it to be looked into by another group of experienced judges.

On the administrative side, the chief justice carries out functions of maintenance of the roster, appointment of court officials, and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court.

The 51st and present chief justice is Sanjiv Khanna. He was sworn in as the 51st chief justice of India on 11 November 2024.^[7]

As the incumbent chief justice approaches retirement, the Ministry of Law and Justice seeks a recommendation from the incumbent chief justice. Consultations with other judges might also take place. The recommendation is then presented to the prime minister, who will advice the President in the matter of appointment.^[8]

Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India lays down the procedure for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court, which is applicable to Chief Justices as well. Once appointed, the Chief Justice remains in office until age 65. There is no fixed tenure provided in the constitution. ^{[citation needed]} He can be removed only through a process of removal by Parliament as follows:

A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.

— Article 124(4), Constitution of India, ^[9]

The President (Discharge of Functions) Act, 1969 specifies the chief justice of India shall act as the president of India in the event of the offices of both the president and the vice president being vacant.^[10] When President Zakir Hussain died in office, Vice President V. V. Giri acted as the president. Later, V V Giri resigned as the vice president, the chief justice, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah became the acting president of India. As per the convention, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court become the acting chief justice. When the newly elected president took office a month later, Justice Hidayatullah reverted as the chief justice of India.

The Constitution of India gives the power of deciding remuneration as well as other conditions of service of the chief justice to the Parliament of India. Accordingly, such provisions have been laid down in The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.^[11][12] This remuneration was revised in 2006–2008 after the Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendation.^[13] According to the Seventh pay commission, in 2016, the salary was revised.^[14]

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