iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud is to become the next Chief Justice of India. His name was recommended by the CJI U U Lalit on Tuesday, October 11, who will retire on November 8. After the recommendation is accepted by the government, Justice Chandrachud, the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court, will become the 50th CJI.
Though Justice Lalit had a rather short tenure – a little less than three months in office – Justice Chandrachud will be in office for two years – till November 10, 2024. Justice Chandrachud will also be creating a history of sorts as his father Justice YV Chandrachud too was the CJI between 1978 and 1985.
Justice Chandrachud is a Law graduate from Delhi University and he got his LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from the Harvard Law School in the US. He was the additional solicitor general from 1998 till 2000 when he was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court. Justice Chandrachud also served as the director of the Maharashtra Judicial Academy.
Justice Chandrachud was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 13 May 2016 and was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 31 October 2013 until his appointment to the Supreme Court. Before that, he was a judge at the Bombay High Court from 29 March 2000.
During his tenure in the SC, Justice Chandrachud has given some very important judgments like the landmark Justice K S Puttaswamy (retd) vs Union of India case. A nine-judge bench recognized privacy as a fundamental right. In 2018 Justice Chandrachud was part of a five-judge Constitution bench that decriminalized homosexuality.
In September 2022, Justice Chandrachud and two other justices of the Supreme Court gave a significant ruling on reproductive rights. The SC bench extended the right to safe and legal abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy for unmarried and single women. He was also part of the five-judge SC bench that decided the Ayodhya title dispute case.