India, May 14 -- Outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna could have been a part of a small club among the 51 CJIs India has had so far but for a landmark case in the history of Indian jurisprudence. Justice Khanna's uncle, Justice Hans Raj Khanna, was a Supreme Court judge during the Emergency. He was the lone dissenter among five judges who ruled in the ADM Jabalpur case (in the government's favour) that the fundamental right of Habeas Corpus could be suspended during the Emergency. As an act of vendetta, he was superseded by Indira Gandhi's government despite being in line to become the CJI.

Six out of India's 51 CJIs (Justice BR Gavai, who takes over as the 52nd CJI today hasn't been counted in this exercise) so far are ei...