Rahul Gandhi's Absence At Justice Sanjiv Khanna's Oath As CJI Sparks Speculation On Historic Family Feud

The leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi skipped the oath ceremony of the 51st Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Monday (11 November).

The development fueled speculations that Gandhi's gesture might be linked to decades old rivalry between Justice Khanna's family and the former's grandmother Indira Gandhi.

Notably, when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, Justice Khanna’s uncle, Justice Hans Raj Khanna dissented over Emergency and argued for upholding civil liberties even during Emergency.

He was the lone dissenting judge who claimed that Article 21 of the Constitution could not possibly be the sole repository of the fundamental rights to life and liberty, which are inalienable.

Later, Khanna was bypassed to the office of the CJI, against the convention of appointing the senior-most judge as the next CJI and Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg became the CJI.

This was perceived as a repercussion of his dissenting opinion against Indira Gandhi, which affected his judicial career, depriving him of the position of the CJI.

Amid such speculations, Rahul Gandhi was seen campaigning in Kerala's Wayanad for his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is the Congress candidate for the parliamentary by-polls.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi contested two seats of Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli and Wayanad. He later decided to represent Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, vacating Wayanad.

The Kerala constituency will have voting on 20 November and the results will be declared on 23 November. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate here is Navya Haridas.