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Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, who retired on November 10, 2024, recently reflected on his legacy and the impact of his tenure; the tenure which has been irrevocably sad and painfully disappointing as one sees him lead with a weak stature.

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s tenure has been a free fall coupled with multiple comebacks. However, the more radically the CJI tries to be a liberally impactful judge with his put-on image of constitutionalism, it only lands him the titular trope of being a classic big mouthed MUN kid—all talks, no show.

The Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud was appointed and has been serving since November 2022. It is to be recognized here that his appraisal came at a very astute timing. The nation was convalescing with the aftermath of COVID pandemic, the Agnipath scheme had divided the youth’s job security, rampant political arrests had been ensuing with most political prisoners languishing in jails without proper trials and pending verdicts, right-wing extremism and communal clashes had grown manifold, minority rights were under scrutiny, state governments continued being unstable with the arrests of ministers and fall of coalition governments, the UCC, Article 370, and the Citizenship Amendment Act faced an undecided legal fate. The CJI, however, leaves office with a new unblinded saree-clad lady justice and folded hands that ask for forgiveness in case he hurt anyone.

Any criticism of D.Y. Chandrachud comes mostly from the fact of his identifying with morally high, progressive ideas but failing to deliver on any affirmative action that would strengthen them further. It has become a pattern of deceit. Famously, during the Marriage Equality proceedings, the Chief Justice earned his bytes of fame across social media when he corrected the Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, saying, “There is no absolute concept of a man or an absolute concept of a woman at all. Biological definition is not what your genitals are. It’s far more complex; that’s the point.” What came from the hearing was a judgment against the legalisation of same-sex marriages under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

The bench also unanimously decided that the right to marriage is not a fundamental right; this sounds contradictory to other guaranteed rights such as the rights to equality, dignity, and liberty. A review petition was later filed as the court’s decision has been criticized for violating fundamental rights, ignoring lived realities, undermining constitutional morality, and contradicting international human rights standards.

Interestingly, the more the CJI edges towards his retirement, the more he finds it imperative to testify for a clean character certificate from the public. He recently said, “I have always granted bail from A to Z, from Arnab to Zubair.” The statement sadly comes at a time when the movement and agitation towards Professor G.N. Saibaba’s institutional death is at its peak. The ignorance extended towards political prisoners’ plight is apparent. D.Y. Chandrachud’s judgment on the Bhima Koregaon Arrests under the UAPA is reflective of the larger judicial sentiment harbored towards those wrongly persecuted by the state. The court, in its judgment, ruled over the arrests of five human rights activists under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the Maharashtra Police and allowed the investigation to continue. The police had accused the activists of involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence and sedition. There are several human rights activists and student leaders who continue to be politically incarcerated and framed while legal and political freedom withers.

Delhi University Professor Nandini Sundar, while addressing a crowd gathered for the memorial meet of Dr. G.N. Saibaba, said,

For a judge to say that he has given bail to some and not the others, sounds akin to a teacher saying I have failed some students but passed the others.”

There had also been large public concern and criticism of the CJI when he openly hosted the Prime Minister for a Ganesh Chaturthi event at his residence. The opposition and citizens raised concern in the matters of division of powers, arguing that it was a display of negation of judicial independence, propriety, and protocol. The CJI, however, dismissed the backlash as he considers there being “absolutely nothing wrong.”

Furthermore, adding to the populist religious sentiment around the Ram Janmabhoomi case, the CJI is said to have prayed to the “lords” to guide him through the judgment. Such statements disintegrate the secular core of public institutions. The judiciary does not in any capacity have a religion, but what one sees during the tenure of CJI Chandrachud is various judges openly endorsing religion and politics, as we see former Justices Rohit Arya and Abhijit Gangopadhyay joining the BJP.

There have also been judgments from the now former CJI that have effectively been pro-citizens and have sought to ensure and maintain the rule of law, but in a broader observation of phenomena, the CJI has delivered less of the more expected from him. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s legacy is a curious case of accepting the unexpected.

Featured image credit: The Hindu

Bhavana Bhaskar

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DU Beat bids farewell to CJI Dipak Misra on the last day of his tenure, the man under whom the Supreme Court delivered historic judgements.

On 6 September 2018, section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalised ‘unnatural sex’ between consenting homosexuals was revoked claiming it to be one ‘irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary’ law. A decision that revolutionized our society and one that redefined the meaning of love for us, was just one among a flurry of Supreme Court judgements in the month of September. Another being the striking down of bar on the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabrimala Temple in Kerala marking the end of a hectic week that saw benches led by outgoing Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, delivering 20 verdicts over five days.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra’s tenure ends on 1 October; but it is an understatement to claim that it has been marked as being eternally inspiring for all successive decision makers of our country. It is not common to see change, it takes time. But the changes in the Indian law made by outgoing CJI Dipak Misra remind us that changes can become. Nothing can be more reassuring. From landmark judgements to scintillating statements, Justice Misra is a rare phenomenon.

Justice Dipak Misra, who was part of the bench that confirmed the death sentence of the four convicts in the December 16 gangrape case and passed the order for mandatory singing of the national anthem in cinema halls, has witnessed the diametric responses to law enforcement. It is this spectrum that enables more informed decisions, and in turn, allowing for a more inclusive yet diverse India.

In his last week in office, over a duration of 5 days, the CJI delivered 20 crucial judgements. The cases decided in the week of September 22-28 covered a range of issues — from the criminalisation of politics to the discrimination inherent in India’s old adultery law, from the religious aspect of the Ram Janambhoomi title dispute to the civil liberties of activists, and from the legality of the government’s ambitious identification project to the bar on the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala temple.

On September 25, in context of the petitions seeking to ban charge-sheeted politicians from contesting elections, the CJI expressed concern at the rising criminalisation of politics but said it was not for the court to lay down such rules and that it was the parliament that has the right authority to deal with the matter.

On September 26, the CJI-led bench delivered nine judgments, including the closely watched Aadhaar verdict and the path-breaking order allowing live-streaming of court proceedings.
On September 27, the CJI wrote the judgment striking down the country’s archaic adultery law that treated “husbands as masters”.

Legal experts and advocates claim that the flurry of verdicts seen over the last five days has been unprecedented. “I haven’t seen an outgoing Chief Justice of India deliver so many judgments in the last week of his office. But it also has to be seen in the backdrop that he led benches that have heard so many important issues in the last year. And understand that these judgments are going to have far-reaching consequences,” said advocate Anil Mishra of the Supreme Court.

Advocate Sunil Fernandes, too, termed the development rare. “Seeing the work load Justice Misra picked up in the last few months, this was bound to happen. He was also part of many constitutional matters. Full credit for what he has done in the last week. He has left his mark on history and will be remembered for playing a role in the constitutional development.” Justice Misra retires on 2 October. The new CJI Ranjan Gogoi (being the first northeast Indian CJI ever) has a tenure of next 13 months.

It is not completely wrong to expect him the streak of just decisions in the wake of Justice Misra’s example. The idea of judicial justice is highly subjective because among other reasons, it calls for moral action. But moral action is more insightful and hence ambiguous than it seems on the face of it. “Morality cannot be martyred at the altar of social morality. Only Constitutional morality exists in our country,” in Justice Misra’s own words. A passionate upheaval of thought has always been a pre-requisite for an upheaval of a social structure. In Justice Misra’s insightful statements, he questions complexities and intricacies of our social backgrounds. In a unified spirit of democracy, his words on homosexuality that redefined ‘love’ or on adultery that revealed the patriarchal truth to our society, or on the Sabarimala verdict redefining social reach of women, CJI Misra has been a remarkable personality of the Indian Judiciary.

In his pursuit of a better India; more accepting, more mentally uplifted, more insightful, more appreciative, Justice Misra has worked on true ideals of our law – to be honest, just, and fair. Challenging all odds, the month of September saw the becoming of this India, in its nascent being. There are miles yet to go, but the first few have been traversed.

Thank you, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. Fare well.

Feature Image Credits : The Tribune

(With Inputs from Hindustan Times)

Kartik Chauhan

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