Chief Justice of India UU Lalit names Justice DY Chandrachud as his successor

Justice DY Chandrachud will take over as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI) next month and this will be a historic movement as being the son of former CJI YV Chandrachud, this will be the only father-son duo to have reached the position of the CJI.

His father had the longest tenure of seven years at the post to date while Justice DY Chandrachud will have a tenure of little over two years – the longest in the recent past. Having two advanced degrees in law from Harvard University he became one of India’s youngest lawyers to be designated senior advocate at the age of 39. In 1998 he was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India.

He was appointed as a judge in the Bombay High Court in 2000 where he served for 13 years. In 2013 he was appointed as the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court and then elevated to the top court 3 years later. He is particularly known for his dissenting opinions and hard work.

One of the associates who work with Justice Chandrachud said, “He openly gives credit in open court even to a peon working in his court and praises each one of us for our work and keeps us motivated throughout.”

According to sources Justice, Chandrachud is a nature lover who loves to hike but since his elevation to the Supreme Court, his hobbies have taken a back seat as he focuses on reading every single file until midnight. Justice Chandrachud views dissent as the ” safety valve ” of democracy. His dissenting opinions and profound judgments often prick the conscience of the powerful.

His commitment to democracy and dissent was visible when he was the sole judge who was in the view of upholding the rights of five activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. When the majority of the Judges wanted to uphold the validity of Aadhaar, Justice Chandrachud dissented and said that Aadhar should not be a criterion for availing of Government schemes and services. He was of the view that Aadhaar reduced a person to a 12-digit number and has privacy concerns.

The judge was part of the Bench which framed the guidelines for the state to act against the rising tide of “horrendous acts of mobocracy” against minorities. He was also part of the Bench which unanimously upheld the right of the Hindu side to the title of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi land.

Justice DY Chandrachud had even praised Greta Thunberg for her activism saying no one is too young to bring in a change. He declared the practice of prohibiting women of menstruating age from entering the Sabrimala Temple as unconstitutional in the Sabrimala case which made him immensely popular.