Justice Sanjiv Khanna takes oath as 51st CJI
New Delhi (PTI): Justice Sanjiv Khanna was on Monday sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to him at a brief swearing-in ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Justice Khanna took the oath in English in the name of god.
Born on May 14, 1960, Justice Khanna will serve as the CJI for a little over six months and demit office on May 13, 2025, on attaining the age of 65 years.
He succeeds Justice D Y Chandrachud, who demitted office on Sunday.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and former CJI J S Khehar were among those present on the occasion, besides Justice Chandrachud.
Justice Khanna, who served as a Supreme Court judge since January 2019, has been part of several landmark judgments such as upholding the sanctity of EVMs, scrapping the electoral bonds scheme, upholding the abrogation of Article 370 and the granting of interim bail to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Hailing from an illustrious Delhi-based family, Justice Khanna is the son of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Dev Raj Khanna and the nephew of prominent former apex court judge H R Khanna.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019, was a third-generation lawyer before being appointed as a judge of the high court. He is driven by the zeal to reduce pendency and speed up justice delivery.
Justice H R Khanna, the uncle of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, hit the headlines by resigning in 1976 after he wrote a dissenting verdict in the infamous ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency.
The majority verdict of a Constitution bench, upholding the abrogation of fundamental rights during the Emergency, was considered a "black spot" on the judiciary.
Justice H R Khanna declared the move unconstitutional and against the rule of law and paid a price as the then central government superseded him and made Justice M H Beg the next CJI.
Justice H R Khanna was part of the landmark verdict propounding the basic structure doctrine in the Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973.
Among the notable judgments of Justice Sanjiv Khanna in the Supreme Court is upholding the use of electronic voting machines in elections, saying the devices were secure and eliminated booth capturing and bogus voting.
A bench headed by Justice Khanna, on April 26, termed the suspicion of the manipulation of EVMs "unfounded" and rejected the demand for reverting to the old paper ballot system.
He was also part of the five-judge bench that declared the electoral bond scheme, meant for funding political parties, as unconstitutional.
Justice Khanna was a part of the five-judge bench, which upheld the Centre's 2019 decision abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution which granted a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
It was the Justice Khanna-led bench, which for the first time, granted interim bail to Kejriwal, the then chief minister, in the excise policy scam cases till June 1 to campaign in the Lok Sabha election.
Born on May 14, 1960, he studied law at the Campus Law Centre of Delhi University.
Justice Khanna was the executive chairman of the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA).
He enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983 and initially practised in the district courts at the Tis Hazari complex here, and later, in the Delhi High Court.
He had a long tenure as the senior standing counsel for the Income Tax Department. In 2004, he was appointed as the standing counsel (Civil) for the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Justice Khanna had also argued in a number of criminal cases at the Delhi High Court as an additional public prosecutor and as an amicus curiae.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
