Meet the Supreme Court judges who heard Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea for interim bail in the liquor scam case.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, currently the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court of India, comes from a distinguished lineage of legal luminaries. He is the nephew of the legendary Supreme Court judge, Justice HR Khanna, renowned for his solitary dissent in the landmark 1976 ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency era. Prior to his elevation to the apex court in 2019, Justice Khanna served as a judge at the Delhi High Court.
Beginning his judicial career in 2005 as a judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice Khanna followed in the footsteps of his father, Justice Dev Raj Khanna, who had also retired as a judge from the same High Court in 1985. Notably, Justice Sanjiv Khanna ascended to the Supreme Court without presiding as the Chief Justice of any High Court. Throughout his tenure in the apex court, Justice Khanna has contributed to several significant judgments, including those related to the Central Vista, Franklin Templeton, the inclusion of the CJI Office under RTI and the Karnataka MLAs case.
Scheduled to assume the role of Chief Justice of India for a term of six months from 11 November, 2024, to 13 May, 2025, Justice Khanna’s judicial acumen and contributions underscore his prominence in the Indian legal landscape. He notably served as a member of the five-judge apex court bench that delivered the Article 370 verdict, indicating his pivotal role in shaping key legal precedents.
Justice Dipankar Datta
Born on 9 February, 1965, Justice Dipankar Datta commenced his legal practice by enrolling as an advocate with the Bar Council of West Bengal in 1989. Over the course of 16 years, he represented diverse litigants, including the State of West Bengal, Union of India, and various statutory authorities, before the Calcutta High Court, other High Courts, tribunals and the Supreme Court of India. Additionally, he served as a guest lecturer on Constitutional Law at the University College of Law, University of Calcutta, during the periods of 1996-97 and 1999-2000.
Elevated as a permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court on 22 June, 2006, Justice Datta’s legal acumen was further recognised when he assumed the position of Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on 28 April, 2020. After serving for over two and a half years at the helm of the Bombay High Court, he took on the mantle of a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 12 December, 2022, with a tenure expected to conclude on 8 February, 2030.
Recently, in a notable concurring opinion delivered as part of a judgment dismissing pleas seeking cross-verification of votes cast in electronic voting machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), Justice Datta highlighted the efforts of certain vested interest groups attempting to undermine the nation’s achievements.
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