On October 11, Justice Lalit put in motion the process of appointment of his successor by recommending the name of Justice Chandrachud to the Union government
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday administered the oath of office to Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud as he took over as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI), replacing Uday Umesh Lalit, who demitted office on Tuesday.
Justice Chandrachud was last month appointed as the 50th CJI following the ratification of his appointment by Murmu. Union law minister Kiren Rijiju announced the appointment through his tweets and also congratulated the most senior judge of the top court.
On October 11, Justice Lalit put in motion the process of the appointment of his successor by recommending the name of Justice Chandrachud to the Union government. On October 7, the government sent a letter to CJI Lalit, who retired on November 8 following a tenure of 74 days, to recommend his successor.
As per convention, the Union law ministry writes to the outgoing CJI a little over a month before retirement, seeking name of his or her successor. The incumbent then writes back sending the recommendation to the ministry between 28 to 30 days before retirement.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the process of appointment and transfer of judges of the constitutional courts, appointment to the office of CJI should be of the most senior judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.
Justice Chandrachud, who was elevated to the Supreme Court in May 2016, will have a term of two years as the head of the judiciary and will retire on November 10, 2024. He is the son of former CJI YV Chandrachud. They are the only father-son duo to have served as CJIs.
Justice YV Chandrachud has the distinction of being the longest-serving CJI. He remained at the helm for over seven years between February 1978 and July 1985.
Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on October 11 told HT he continues to be in awe of the judicial position after six and a half years of his tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court. “It’s a humbling experience to get an opportunity to be a part of the Supreme Court and to head the judiciary,” he said.
“Every judge in the country has an immense power to do good and with it comes to a duty to serve society with compassion. Our institutions are vital to preserving the rule of law.”
After obtaining two degrees in law from Harvard University, Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud went on to become one of India’s youngest lawyers to be designated senior advocate at 39. In 1998, he was appointed additional solicitor-general of India.
He was appointed a judge in 2000 in the Bombay high court where he served for 13 years. Justice Chandrachud became the chief justice of the Allahabad high court in 2013 and was elevated to the top court three years later.
He authored the lead judgment for a nine-judge constitution bench in 2017 to assign privacy status as a fundamental right. He was part of the bench that decriminalised gay sex between consenting adults by partially striking down the 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
During his tenure in the top court, he was associated with a string of high-profile and other important cases of social and constitutional importance. Some other crucial judgments by Justice Chandrachud relate to quashing the adultery law under Section 497 of the IPC for being an affront to women’s dignity, holding the age-old practice of prohibiting women of menstruating age from entering Kerala’s Sabarimala temple as violative of fundamental rights, etc.
