Chief Justice of India
Bhārat kē Mukhya Nyāyādhīśa
Emblem of the SCI
Flag of India
Incumbent
Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud
since 9 November 2022
Supreme Court
TypeChief Justice
StatusPresiding Judge
AbbreviationCJI
Residence5, Krishna Menon Marg, Sunehri Bagh, New Delhi, India[1]
SeatSupreme Court of India, New Delhi, India
NominatorOutgoing Chief Justice of India on the basis of Seniority
AppointerPresident of India
Term lengthUntil the age of 65 [2]
Constituting instrumentConstitution of India (under Article 124)
Formation28 January 1950 (1950-01-28)
First holderH. J. Kania (1950–1951)[3]
Succession6th (on the Indian order of precedence)
Salary₹280,000 (US$3,500) (per month)[4]
Websitesci.gov.in

The chief justice of India (IAST: Bhārat kē Mukhya Nyāyādhīśa) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, as dictated by outgoing chief justice in consultation with judicial cabal of 21 Supreme Court judges, the next chief justice, who will serve until they reach the age of sixty-five or are removed by the constitutional process of impeachment.

As per convention, the name suggested by the incumbent chief justice is almost always the next senior most judge in the Supreme Court. However this convention has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding three senior judges. Also, in 1977 Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the 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 which deal with important matters of law.[5] In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all 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 a larger bench of more 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 50th and present chief justice is Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud. He was sworn in as the 50th chief justice of India on 9 November 2022.[6]

Appointment

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 passes the advice on to the president.[7]

Removal

Article 124(4) of Constitution of India lays down the procedure for removal of a judge of Supreme Court which is applicable to Chief Justices as well. Once appointed, the Chief Justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years. There is no fixed tenure provided in the constitution. 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, [8]

Acting president

The President (Discharge of Functions) Act, 1969[9] specifies that 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. When President Zakir Hussain died in office, Vice President V. V. Giri, acted as the president. Later, Giri resigned as the vice president. The chief justice, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah then became the acting president of India. As per the convention, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court became the acting chief justice. When the newly elected president took office a month later, Justice Hidayatullah reverted as the chief justice of India.

Remuneration

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.[10][11] This remuneration was revised in 2006–2008, after the sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendation.[12] According to Seventh pay commission in 2016 the salary is revised[13]

List of Chief Justices

See also

Current Judiciary

References

  1. ↑ "Delhi confidential: Mutual Praise". 24 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Supreme Court of India - CJI & Sitting Judges". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Supreme Court of India Retired Hon'ble the Chief Justices' of India". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Supreme Court, High Court judges get nearly 200% salary hike". The Hindustan Times. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Saxena, Namit (23 December 2016). "New Captain Of The Ship, Change In Sailing Rules Soon?". Live Law. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "D.Y. Chandrachud is sworn in as 50th Chief Justice of India". The Hindu. PTI. 9 November 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 November 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ↑ Ministry of Law and Justice, Department Of Justice (8 November 2021). "MEMORANDUM SHOWING THE PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTMENT OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF India AND JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA".
  8. ↑ "Article 124, Constitution of India". Vakilno1.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "President Discharge of Functions Act 1969 Complete Act - Citation 134059 - Bare Act | LegalCrystal".
  10. ↑ "The High Court and Supreme Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Amendment Bill 2008" (PDF). PRS India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act 1958" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  12. ↑ Archived copy (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ↑ "Pay, Allowance and Pension | Department of Justice | India". Retrieved 27 August 2022.
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