Won't take any post after retirement: Outgoing CJI Sanjiv Khanna

New Delhi: Outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday said that he would not accept any post after retirement "but perhaps will do something with law". The CJI demitted office on Tuesday and was speaking to the media on his last working day.

When asked about the incident involving an in-house inquiry against Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Court, the CJI said, "Judicial thinking has to be decisive and adjudicatory. We see plus and minus and decide the issue then rationally. When we do that, we take decisions. Then the future tells you whether what you did was correct or not."

Last week, the CJI had written to the President of India and the Prime Minister enclosing a copy of the three-judge committee, constituted by CJI Khanna for a "deeper probe" into the cash discovery allegations at Justice Yashwant Varma's official residence. As per the in-house procedure, the CJI has recommended to the President to remove Justice Varma from office.

Earlier in the day, addressing lawyers, who had gathered in his courtroom to bid him farewell, the CJI said that "public trust in the judiciary has to be earned and cannot be commanded".

CJI Khanna recalled that he and Justice BR Gavai, who will succeed him on Wednesday, were elevated in the same year. The outgoing CJI said that he is "confident that Justice Gavai will be an excellent chief justice" and that "he is going to uphold the fundamental rights" and "basic doctrines of law."

A day after Justice Gavai will take over as the new CJI, a bench headed by him (on May 15) will take up petitions challenging the recently passed Waqf (Amendment) Act.