Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit is about to complete his tenure as Chief Justice of India on November 8. And he has formally recommended the name of Justice D Y Chandrachud as his successor. And on Wednesday, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, the senior-most judge on the Supreme Court, took the oath as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI). At Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi, President Droupadi Murmu swore DY Chandrachud into office.
Who is Justice D.Y Chandrachud?
Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud is a Supreme Court judge, popularly known as the ‘judge who is not afraid to dissent.’The former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and Bombay High Court is currently serving as the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority.
The son of the longest-serving Chief Justice Y. V. Chandrachud, D.Y Chandrachud was born on 11 November 1959. His mother Prabha was a classical musician. He completed his early education in Mumbai, and then after getting his Bachelor's Degree in law he left for his Masters's degree from Harvard Law School in 1983. Later, he also bagged a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard on affirmative action and considered the law in a comparative framework.
Work Cycle of D.Y Chandrachud
Additional Solicitor General for Union of India
1998 - March 28th, 2000
Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court
June 1998 - March 29th, 2000
Permanent Judge of Bombay High Court
March 29th, 2000 - 30th October 2013
Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court
October 31st, 2013 - May 12th, 2016
At present, he is serving as the Judge of the Supreme Court and will retire from the Supreme Court of India on 10th Nov 2024.
Notable Judgements
Justice D.Y Chandrachud during his Supreme Court service has been on the highest number of Constitution Benches to hear matters on constitutional questions. He has delivered judgments on Indian constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, human rights, gender justice, public interest litigation, commercial law, and criminal law.
Insights on some of his notable judgments are:
Privacy
To guarantee the right to privacy constitutionally Justice Chandrachud grounded the right to privacy in dignity, liberty, autonomy, bodily and mental integrity, self-determination, and across a spectrum of protected rights.
Free Speech
Reportedly, to prevent the censorship of free speech and limit its exceptions strictly to the grounds mentioned in Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
Gender Justice
Justice Chandrachud authored judgments on gender justice to ensure a 'change in mindsets' promoting equal entitlements of women under the Constitution. The two main decisions under this idea were:
In the Sabrimala case, he defended the entry of women in to temple on the basis of physiology amounted to a constitutionally prohibited practice of untouchability under Article 17.
Whereas, in Joseph Shine vs Union of India, he declared the provision of the Indian Penal Code which concerned the adultery law in India unconstitutional, emphasizing the constitutional commitment to equality and dignity.
Army
Justice D.Y Chandrachud during his career took two major decisions for the armed forces of the country. The landmark verdict ending gender bias demanded the appointment of all woman officers on Short Service Commissions for the grant of Permanent Commissions on an equal basis with their male counterparts.
Some of his other landmarks include decisions on the Navy, sexual harassment at the workplace, intersectional violence, environment, labor, constitutional judgments on governance, and various affirmative actions.
Other than this Justice Chandrachud is also the Chairperson of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India. Under the chairpersonship of Justice Chandrachud, the e-Committee introduced took various exemplary steps:
- Virtual Courts
- National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG)
- Inter Operable Criminal Justice System
- e-Filing Software 3.0
- e-Payments
- e-Seva Kendra
- National Service and Tracking of Electronic Process (NSTEP)
- Judgement Search Portal
- Live Streaming o Court Proceedings
CJI Lalit demitted his role on November 8, exercising the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India. And the very next day, the honorable President administered Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, Judge of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice of India. He will serve as Chief Justice of India for 2 years and will step down on November 10, 2022.
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