DY Chandrachud appointed as 50th Chief Justice of India: Career highlights, key judgments and other facts about new CJI

Justice DY Chandrachud, the 50th Chief Justice of India, will succeed outgoing CJI Uday Umesh Lalit, effective from 9 November, 2022. Chandrachud was named successor by the outgoing CJI on October 11. Justice Chandrachud will have a term of over two years as the Chief Justice of India till 10 November 2024.

During his career, Justice DY Chandrachud has been part of a number of landmark judgments, including those on Ayodhya land dispute, decriminalisation of homosexuality, adultery, privacy, entry of women into Sabarimala etc.

DY Chandrachud, a PhD from Harvard Law School, did his BA (Honours) in economics from St Stephen's College, New Delhi. Following that, he went on to complete LLB from Delhi University's Campus Law Centre.

Justice Chandrachud was first appointed as judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. He served as Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 till 2000.

In June 1998, he was named as senior advocate by the Bombay High Court.

He has also served as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from October 31, 2013 till his elevation as a supreme court judge on May 13, 2016. This is also the first time a father and son will hold the CJI position. Justice Chandrachud's father Justice YV Chandrachud was the 16th and the longest serving CJI of India.

Take a look at some of his key judgements:

Permanent Commission to women in Armed Forces:

Justice Chandrachud-led bench in the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling directed the Indian Armed Forces and Indian Government to allow permanent commission to women officers in the armed forces, including command postings. Justice Chandrachud and other judges had pointed out the factor of gender discrimination in selection criteria at that time.

Sabarimala temple entry for women:

Similar to his nature of advocating women's rights, Justice DY Chandrachud was part of the majority opinion that recommended the entry of women in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. He cited that barring the entry of women into the temple was un-constitutional. He stood by this judgment even when a larger nine-judge bench conducted a review judgment on the previous ruling.

Decriminalising Section 377:

In 2018, when the top court read down Section 377 to decriminalise homosexuality, Justice Chandrachud’s concurring opinion underlined that this ruling may open the doors for granting wider rights to the sexual minorities.

Expansion of the right to abortion:

A Justice Chandrachud-led bench of the Supreme Court recently held that marital status must not affect anyone’s right to seek an abortion.

The ruling was viewed as pivotal as it also includes persons who are not cisgender women. The judgment also talks about non-consensual intercourse between married couples as marital rape, which in turn may prove to be relevant in the case seeking a declaration of marital rape as a punishable crime.

Decriminalising adultery:

The Supreme Court bench that included Justice DY Chandrachud decriminalised adultery as a punishable offence and noted that the provision was rooted in patriarchal views that sought to subjugate women and deny them bodily and sexual autonomy.

Hadiya case:

In this case of ‘love jihad’ the Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Chandrachud stressed on the right of the adult woman to exercise autonomy and the right to make decisions regarding her marriage and choice of adopting a religion.

Right to privacy as a fundamental right:

While giving the judgment for the conditional bench that supported right to privacy as a fundamental right, Justice DY Chandrachud overruled the habeas corpus case of the Emergency era which had held that fundamental rights can be suspended at a time when emergency is proclaimed.

Also Read: Justice DY Chandrachud becomes 50th Chief Justice of India, takes oath in Rashtrapati Bhawan