Justice DY Chandrachud next CJI, oath on Nov 9

New Delhi, October 17

Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was on Monday appointed the 50th Chief Justice of India and he will take oath on November 9.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the appointment of Justice Chandrachud, who will serve as the CJI for two years. Justice Chandrachud, son of the longest-serving CJI YV Chandrachud, succeeds Justice UU Lalit. His father was the head of the Indian judiciary from February 22, 1978, to July 11, 1985. The incumbent CJI demits office on November 8 on attaining the age of 65 after a brief tenure of 74 days. Justice Chandrachud, who sees dissent as the “safety valve of democracy”, was part of several Constitution Benches and landmark verdicts of the top court, including on matters relating to the Ayodhya land dispute and right to privacy. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016, and will demit office on November 10, 2024. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra and top officials of the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry personally handed over the warrant of appointment signed by the President to Justice Chandrachud this afternoon following which a formal notification announcing his appointment as the next CJI was issued, sources said.

CJI Lalit had on October 11 recommended to the Centre the name of Justice Chandrachud as his successor. Born on November 11, 1959, Justice Chandrachud was judge of the Bombay HC from March 29, 2000, until his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad HC on October 31, 2013. He was designated a senior advocate by the Bombay HC in June 1998 and became Additional Solicitor General the same year till his appointment as a judge.

After completing BA with Honours in Economics from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi, he did his LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, and obtained LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences from Harvard Law School, US. 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.

Recently, a Bench headed by him expanded the scope of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and the corresponding rules to include unmarried women for abortion between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. Justice Chandrachud was among the two judges of the apex court Collegium that had objected to the method of “circulation” adopted for eliciting the views of its members on the appointment of judges to the top court.

In a landmark verdict delivered in February 2020, a Bench headed by Justice Chandrachud had directed that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission and command postings, rejecting the Centre’s stand of their physiological limitations as being based on “sex stereotypes” and “gender discrimination against women”. Later, a Bench led by him had paved the way for permanent commission to women officers in the Navy. — PTI

Key judgments

• Permanent commission, command postings to women officers in Army, Navy.
• Decriminalising same-sex relations, striking down Sec 377
• Matters relating to Ayodhya dispute, Aadhaar validity, right to privacy, Sabarimala issue