Context

• Justice Sanjiv Khanna was sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India today taking over from Justice DY Chandrachud.

Appointment of CJI- the Process

• The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under Article 124 (2) of the Constitution.
• As per the convention, the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court (based on years of experience as a judge in the apex court) considered fit to hold the office will be appointed as the Chief Justice of India (CJI). 
• This convention was violated in 1973 when A.N.Ray was appointed as the Chief Justice of India by superseding three senior judges. Later, the Supreme Court in the Second Judges Case (1993), ruled that the senior most judge of the Supreme Court should alone be appointed to the office of the chief justice of India. 

Qualifications:

• A person to be appointed as the CJI and a judge of the Supreme Court should have the following qualifications
  • He should be a citizen of India. 
  • He should have been a judge of a High Court (or high courts in succession) for five years; or
  • He should have been an advocate of a High Court (or High Courts in succession) for ten years; or 
  • He should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president. 

Role of Central Government in the appointment

• The final decision on appointing the next CJI technically rests with the Centre.  
• By convention, the government generally follows the recommendation of the sitting CJI regarding their successor.

Retirement

• The retirement age for the Chief Justice of India (CJI), as well as other Supreme Court judges, is 65 years. Justice Khanna will have a relatively short tenure of just six months as he is due to retire in May, 2025.