Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud has said that trying to make a difference in the lives of the common man was what made him tick as a judge for the past 24 years. Friday was his last day in court as he will demit office on Sunday after a two-year tenure at the helm of the Indian judiciary.
Known for his judgments ranging from declaring privacy a fundamental right to decriminalising homosexuality to the Ayodhya title dispute case to scrapping electoral bonds to granting permanent commission to women officers in defence forces to upholding the scrapping of Article 370, justice Chandrachud, who leaves a rich legacy of judicial verdicts, said that he was also one of the “most trolled” judges on social media.
The CJI was embroiled in a controversy recently for saying that he consulted God before deciding the Ayodhya case, and for conducting a Ganesh Puja at his house with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant. When you expose your personal life, you get exposed to criticism. But our shoulders are broad enough to take this criticism,” the CJi said, before light-heartedly adding: “What will happen from Monday? All who trolled me will be rendered unemployed.”
Justice Chandrachud was speaking at a farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) which was presided over by the CJI-designate justice Sanjiv Khanna, who takes oath as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday.
On his long career that began as a Bombay high court judge in March 2000, the CJI said, “In the last 24 years, you realise that you have written important judgments. But what has made me tick as a judge is the impact of our judgments on the lives of the common man.” He recounted instances where the top court’s intervention helped visually impaired candidates to appear for judicial selection in Rajasthan, a Dalit boy to get admission to IIT, a person with benchmark disability of 40% be enrolled in an MBBS course, and a hearing impaired lawyer get a sign language interpreter to argue in the top court.
“I have realised that trying to reach out to people where it makes a difference in their lives is what is important. These cases are what makes us realise that we make a mark in the lives of people,” he said.
Justice Khanna confessed that to match the energy and legacy of CJI Chandrachud will be difficult for him, and that the change will be felt in the top court from Monday. Terming his predecessor a scholar and a jurist, the CJI-designate said, “He has rendered 38 Constitution bench decisions. This is a record that will remain unbroken!”
Justice Khanna highlighted that the CJI’s scholarly prowess was evident through his judgments, his compassion was seen by how he made courts accessible to people with disabilities and permitted specially abled people to run a cafe in Supreme Court complex, and his high standards of self-discipline and unwavering work ethic were an example for all. He credited the CJI for bringing technology into court operations by way of paperless courts, video conferencing, live-streaming, e-filing, translation of judgments using artificial intelligence, and a dedicated war room to compile case management data. “Technology has been brought to the doorstep of the litigant, making lives of both litigants and lawyers at ease,” he said.
Earlier in the day, holding the ceremonial bench with justice Khanna and two other judges for the last time, the CJI said: “We are here as pilgrims, birds that come for a short time. My leaving is not going to make the slightest difference to this court, particularly because I know that the person going to come in after me – justice Khanna, a person so dignified. This court is in solid, stable and erudite hands.”
During the special bench, SCBA president and senior advocate Kapil Sibal said: “In my 52 years I have not seen a judge like CJI with limitless patience, reaching out to communities who were never seen before, be it lives of marginalised and challenged people and taking complex matters such as electoral bonds, Article 370 and same-sex marriage head on which past CJIs did not deal with for years.” On a comparison with Chandrachud’s father, former CJI YV Chandrachud, Sibal said: “This Chandrachud has outpaced the legacy of his father. You are a class apart.”
Justice PS Narasimha, who was elevated from the bar as a judge of the top court in 2021, and who shared the bench with CJI in some of the landmark decisions over past few weeks, said, “Both as a lawyer and as a judge, CJI Chandrachud held an extraordinary ability to connect life with law.” Another judge, justice Hrishikesh Roy, his batch mate in college, said that with the great talent possessed by justice Chandrachud, he is sure to spread his flavour across the globe.
Despite some of recent judgments — striking down electoral bonds, holding that states have power to tax minerals and industrial alcohol — going against the government, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said: “For government, there are cases where we won and we lost. But in every case, with your unmatched intellect and complete impartiality, we were satisfied that we were fully understood by the bench.”
The CJI’s ability to remain energetic even at 65, made several members of the bar wonder the secret behind this attribute. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “Your youthful looks make us feel old. I am yet to come across a judge who has done so much for the court infrastructure while giving judgments, which is the primary job of a judge.”