The Supreme Court of India is poised for significant changes in the year 2024 as it will witness the retirement of the Chief Justice of India and three other judges. This development is set to reshape the composition of the country’s highest judicial forum, with the total number of judges reducing from 34 to 29.
Justice Aniruddha Bose will be the first to retire this year on April 10, 2024. Appointed to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Bose previously served as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court. During his tenure, he has been a part of several crucial constitutional benches.
Justice A.S. Bopanna is set to retire on May 19, 2024. Elevated from the position of Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court on May 24, 2019, Justice Bopanna has presided over significant cases including the 2016 demonetization scheme, freedom of speech for parliamentarians and legislators, OBC reservation in NEET, and the Tata versus Cyrus Mistry case. He has also been a part of a three-judge bench that overruled the Bombay High Court’s decision on the ‘skin to skin’ contact issue under the POCSO Act, 2012, and in 2020, dismissed a plea claiming minority status by a convict in the notorious Nirbhaya case.
Justice Hima Kohli, the ninth woman judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court, will retire on September 1, 2024. She has been handling cases in the Supreme Court since August 8, 2021, and has written notable decisions on women’s rights, including the implementation of the POSH Act and interpretation of ‘demand for dowry’. Prior to her Supreme Court appointment, she served as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. Her notable cases include matters on marriage equality, the Maharashtra political crisis, and the Delhi government versus LG case.
Also Read
Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud is set to retire on November 10, 2024, after a two-year tenure. He was sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India on November 9, 2022, and has been part of landmark decisions including granting permanent commission to women in the army, the right to privacy as a fundamental right, the constitutionality of IPC Section 377, and the Ayodhya Ram Mandir dispute. Recently, he delivered a verdict on the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and expressed a dissenting opinion in the marriage equality case, advocating for the rights of same-sex couples.
Following Justice Chandrachud’s retirement, Justice Sanjeev Khanna is expected to take his place. The Supreme Court is currently awaiting decisions on key issues like the validity of the electoral bond scheme and the constitutional validity of Section 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, under the leadership of Chief Justice Chandrachud.
