Know Your 50th Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
On 11th October, 2022, Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud was recommended as the 50th Chief Justice of India by the CJI Uday Umesh Lalit as his successor.
On 11th October 2022, Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud was recommended as the 50th Chief Justice of India by the CJI Uday Umesh Lalit as his successor. The President of India has appointed Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India with effect from November 9, 2022. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud will be having a tenure for a period of over two years till 10 November 2024.[1]
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was born in Mumbai on November 11, 1959. His father, Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud had also served as a CJI from February 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985. He was the 16th Chief Justice of India and had the longest tenure. His mother, Prabha was a classical musician. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud gets highlighted consecutively for his landmark judgments on various issues.
Introduction
The President has got the power under the Constitution of India to appoint the Chief Justice of India on the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India.[2] Chief Justice of India holds the top most position in the federal set up of judiciary in India. He is the senior most judge of the Supreme Court of India.
The Chief Justice of India serve the nation until the age of sixty-five years unless they are removed by impeachment on the ground of violation of constitution. As the head of Supreme Court of India, the Chief Justice of India performs the task of allocation of cases and establishment of constitutional benches for important matters.
The incumbent CJI U.U. Lalit is all set to retire on November 08, 2022 and recommended the present senior-most judge of Supreme Court, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud as the next Chief Justice of India.
Career
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud pursued his Graduation in BA (Hons.) in Economics from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi in 1979 and LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1982. He obtained his LLM degree in 1983 and PhD in Juridical Sciences from Harvard Law School in 1986. He received Joseph H. Beale Prize at Harvard.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud started his career as an advocate in Bombay High Court and Supreme Court of India. His career development can be better understood in the table given below.
Year Designation
June 1998 - Designated as Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court
June 1998 - March 2000 Designated as Additional Solicitor General of India
March 29, 2000 - October 30, 2013 Designated as Judge of Bombay High Court
October 31, 2013 - May 12, 2016 Designated as 45th Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court
May 13, 2016-November 2022 Designated as Judge of Supreme Court of India
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was also a visiting Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Mumbai and at Oklahoma University of Law, USA. He was the director of Maharashtra Judicial Academy. He delivered lectures at the Australian National University, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Deakin University, Melbourne Law School and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud became a part of collegium of the Supreme Court of India from 24th April, 2021 onwards which is a body composed of five-senior most judges of Supreme Court of India and performs the function of appointment of judges of Supreme Court and High Court. At present, he is serving as an executive chairman of National Legal Service Authority.
Notable Judgements
As remarked earlier, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud is highlighted sequentially for his landmark judgements on various issues. Some of the landmark judgements that Justice D.Y. Chandrachud delivered includes:
A. Right To Privacy
The 9-judge bench of Supreme Court declared that Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Court held that "Right to Privacy was integral to freedoms guaranteed across fundamental rights and was an intrinsic aspect of dignity, autonomy and liberty."[3]
B. Habeas Corpus Case
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud overruled the lead opinion delivered by his father, Justice Y.V. Chandrachud in this case.[4]
C. Homosexuality
The Supreme Court held that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is unconstitutional because it criminalises homosexuality. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud opined that "not only must the law not discriminate against same-sex relationships, it must take positive steps to achieve equal protection and to grant the community "equal citizenship in all its manifestations".[5]
D. Media Reporting in Court Proceedings
In this case, Justice Chandrachud upheld the freedom of speech and expression of the media in reporting court proceedings.[6]
E. Sabarimala Case
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud authored a concurring judgment holding that the practice of prohibiting women of menstruating age from entering the Sabarimala temple was discriminatory and violated the fundamental rights of women. In his judgment, he highlighted that
"the individual right to the freedom of religion was not intended to prevail over but was subject to the overriding constitutional postulates of equality, liberty and personal freedoms recognised in the other provisions of Part III."[7]
F. Adultery
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud authored a concurring judgment declaring the provision of the Indian Penal Code which concerned the adultery law in India unconstitutional. [8]
Controversy
Some of the decisions and opinions of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud remark controversy. However, it is often viewed that his dissenting opinions are as powerful as his judgements. One such dissent was his Adhaar Judgement wherein he remarked that a person is reduced to just 12-digit number in Adhaar Scheme. This opinion overshadowed the whole Adhaar judgement.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud broke the sex stereotype that women are physiologically weak than men in the case of The Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya & Ors, 2020 (7) SCC 469. In the most recent judgement, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud held that an unmarried woman has the same right of abortion within 20 to 24 weeks as a married woman has under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.[9]
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud is the judge who is never afraid of dissent. He has a libertarian interpretation of constitutional rights.
References
[1] When DY Chandrachud, Next Chief Justice, overturned 2 of his father's judgment, Available Here
[2] The Constitution of India, Available Here
[3] Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors, (2017) 10 SCC 1.
[4] ADM Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla, AIR 1976 SC 1207.
[5] Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, 2018 (10) SCALE 386.
[6] Chief Election Commissioner of India v. M.R. Vijayabhaskar, AIR 2021 SC 2238.
[7] Indian Young Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala, (2017) 10 SCC 689.
[8] Joseph Shine v. Union of India, 2019 (3) SCC 39.
[9] X v. The Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department & Anr, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1321.
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