New Delhi: Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud has been appointed as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI) and will take over on November 9. He will serve as the chief of the expansive Indian judicial system for two years till November 10, 2024. Chandrachud will replace CJI Uday Umesh Lalit who had recommended him as his successor on Oct 11. Chandrachud carries on his father Y V Chandrachud’s legacy who had served as CJI between 1978 to 1985. D Y Chandrachud has been a part of several landmark judgements such as the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships. With his unconventional and progressive viewpoint, he has even overturned a few judgements made by his father in the past. For instance, he deemed the offence of adultery unconstitutional.
50th CJI: Who is DY Chandrachud?
Born on November 11, 1959, Justice Chandrachud is the senior-most Supreme Court judge. He was elevated to the top court on May 13, 2016. In a recent conversation with law students, Chandrachud advised imbibing a feminist approach in their careers. This advice comes after the SC bench that he was a part of extended the right to safe and legal abortion up to 24 weeks to unmarried and single women.
Also Read: Justice DY Chandrachud to be next Chief Justice of India, to take oath on November 9
He was also part of the benches which ruled on the validity of the Aadhaar schemes, and the Sabrimala temple issue which had created a furore in the nation.
Second-wave of Covid-19
A Justice Chandrachud-led bench had also passed several directions to mitigate the miseries faced by people during the COVID-19 crisis, terming the brutal second wave of the pandemic last year a “national crisis”.
Recently, Justice Chandrachud was among the two judges of the apex court Collegium who objected to the method of “circulation” adopted for eliciting the views of its members on the appointment of judges to the top court.
DY Chandrachud: A known workaholic
A known workaholic, Chandrachud presided over a bench on September 30, 2022, that sat till 9:10 pm, around five hours beyond the regular working time of the apex court, to hear 75 cases to clear the board before the onset of the Dussehra vacation.
Women Army officers getting permanent commission
In a landmark verdict in February 2020, a bench headed by Justice Chandrachud ruled in favour of women officers in the Army getting permanent commission and command postings, rejecting the Centre’s stand about their physiological limitations as being based on “sex stereotypes” and “gender discrimination against women”. Later, a bench that he led paved the way for granting permanent commissions to women officers in the Indian Navy, saying a level playing field ensures that women have the opportunity to overcome “histories of discrimination”.
Ram Temple dispute
On November 9, 2019, the apex court, in a unanimous verdict cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre alternative plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque. Justice Chandrachud was part of the five-judge constitution bench.
Right to Privacy
He wrote the lead judgement for a nine-judge constitution bench in the Justice K S Puttaswamy versus Union of India case in which it was unanimously held that right to privacy constituted a fundamental right under the Constitution.
Decriminalisation of section 377 of IPC
He was also part of a five-judge constitution bench that unanimously decriminalised part of the 158-year-old colonial law under section 377 of Indian Penal Code which criminalised consensual unnatural sex between consenting adults, saying it violated the rights to equality.
On another five-judge bench, Justice Chandrachud, held section 497 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalised adultery unconstitutional on the ground of being arbitrary, archaic and violative of the right to equality and privacy.
Aadhaar verdict
Registering a strong dissent, he differed with other members of a five-judge constitution bench which by a majority verdict upheld the constitutional validity of the unique biometric identity number Aadhaar. True to his non-conformist image, Justice Chandrachud held Aadhaar unconstitutional and violative of an individual’s fundamental rights.
Entry of menstruating women into Sabarimala temple
He concurred with the majority verdict in the Sabarimala case holding the practice of prohibiting women of menstruating age from entering the Sabarimala temple was discriminatory and violative of women’s fundamental rights.
Justice Chandrachud was also part of a landmark judgment by a five-judge constitution bench which recognised the ‘living will’ made by terminally-ill patients for passive euthanasia.
Supertech twin towers demolition
A bench headed by him had ordered the demolition of realty major Supertech’s twin 40-storey towers in Noida held illegal for violation of norms.
Career and Education
Chandrachud was a judge of the Bombay High Court from March 29, 2000 until his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from October 31, 2013. Before that, he was designated as a senior advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998 and became Additional Solicitor General the same year till his appointment as a judge.
After completing BA Honours in Economics from Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, Justice Chandrachud did his LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, and obtained LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from Harvard Law School, USA. He practised law at the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court and was a visiting professor of comparative Constitutional law at the University of Mumbai.
(With PTI inputs)
