Why in the News?

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, scheduled to retire on 10^th November, has recommended senior Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjiv Khanna for appointment as the 51^st CJI. Justice Khanna is expected to be sworn in on November 11 and will serve a six-month term before retiring on 13^th May 2025.

What is the Procedure for Appointment of CJI?

• The outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
  • The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
• In practice, it has been strictly by seniority ever since the supersession controversy of the 1970s.

About Collegium System

It is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the SC, and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.

Evolution of the Collegium System

• First Judges Case (1981): Gave primacy to the Executive in judicial appointments.
• Second Judges Case (1993): Introduced the Collegium System, giving the judiciary a larger role in appointments.
• Third Judges Case (1998): Expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and the four senior-most judges.

Who Heads the Collegium System?

• The SC collegium is headed by the CJI (Chief Justice of India) and comprises four other senior most judges of the court.
• Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system and the government has a role only after names have been decided by the collegium.