All you need to know about Justice DY Chandrachud - the Harvard graduate who could become India’s next CJI

Oct 12, 2022

By: Vaamanaa Sethi

Credit: BCCL

50th Chief Justice of India

The current Chief Justice of India U U Lalit, on Tuesday, recommended Justice D Y Chandrachud as his successor, to the Centre. CJI Lalit is slated to retire on November 8, 2022. The next CJI, who will be India’s 50th CJI, is expected to take an oath on November 9.

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Longest CJI term

If appointed, then Chandrachud might serve as CJI for two years — which is said to be the longest such term in the recent past. A CJI, once appointed, can remain in office until the age of 65.

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Who is Justice DY Chandrachud?

Dhananjaya Chandrachud was appointed as a judge at the Supreme Court of India on May 13, 2016. During his tenure, he penned important judgments in cases like abortion rights of unmarried women, validity of Aadhar scheme and the Sabrimalai case.

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Landmark judgements

Justice Chandrachud was also a part of a bench that delivered the judgment on the long-pending Ayodhya land dispute case. He was also a part of the bench that decriminalized Section 377 in a verdict which said that it violated rights to equality.

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Some other famous judgements

Yet another landmark judgment passed by a five-judge bench he was a part of, is the recognition of ‘living will’, and permitted removal of life-support systems for the terminally ill or those in incurable comas.

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His father

A lesser known fact about him is that he is the son of Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, who was one of the longest serving Chief Justices of India in history.

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Education background

The 63-year-old judge has a bachelor’s degree in law from Delhi University. Later on, he went to Harvard University to pursue an LLM degree and a doctoral in Juridical Science.

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His career

He practiced law at the Supreme Court of India and Bombay High Court. He was named as Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court and also became an Additional Solicitor General in 1998.

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Contd.

Afterwards, he was appointed as a judge of Bombay High Court in 2000. He then took over as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court in October 2013 and later on, in 2016, he was appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court.

Credit: BCCL

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