Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud is a Supreme Court judge, popularly known as the ‘judge who is not afraid to dissent.’The former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and Bombay High Court is currently serving as the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority.

The son of the longest-serving Chief Justice Y. V. Chandrachud, D.Y Chandrachud was born on 11 November 1959. His mother Prabha was a classical musician. He completed his early education in Mumbai, and then after getting his Bachelor's Degree in law he left for his Masters's degree from Harvard Law School in 1983. Later, he also bagged a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard on affirmative action and considered the law in a comparative framework.

Early life and education

Dhananjaya Chandrachud was born in the Chandrachud family on 11 November 1959. His father Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, was the longest serving chief justice of India. and his mother, Prabha, was a classical musician who sang for All India Radio.

After attending the Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai and St. Columba's School, Delhi, he graduated with honours in economics and mathematics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1979. He then obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Delhi in 1982, followed by a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1983. He was awarded the prestigious Inlaks Scholarship, offered to Indian citizens pursuing graduate education abroad, and received the Joseph H. Beale Prize at Harvard. He stayed at Harvard to complete a Doctorate of Juridical Science, which he finished in 1986. His doctoral dissertation was on affirmative action where he considered the law in a comparative framework.

Career

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee meeting with Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, at Rashtrapati Bhavan

The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Yashwant Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India

The Chief Justice of India, Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud along with his wife Smt. Kalpana Das calling on the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Chandrachud studied law at Delhi University in 1982 at a time when few jobs were available to young law graduates. He worked for a while, as a junior advocate assisting lawyers and judges, including drafting some briefs for Fali Nariman. After graduating from Harvard, Chandrachud first worked at the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell. He described this experience as "sheer fluke" due to the strong pecking order that existed at that time, and a strong bias against hiring Indians and men from developing countries. Upon returning to India, he practiced law at the Supreme Court of India and the Bombay High Court. He was designated a Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998. That year, he was appointed an Additional Solicitor General of India, a role he held until his appointment as a Judge.

He became a judge at the Bombay High Court on 29 March 2000 and served there as a judge until his appointment as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. During this time, he was also Director of the Maharashtra Judicial Academy. He was chief justice of the Allahabad High Court from 31 October 2013 until his appointment to the Supreme Court of India on 13 May 2016. Since 24 April 2021 he has been a part of the Collegium of the Supreme Court of India, which is a body composed of the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court of India responsible for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court of India and all the High Courts. On 17 October 2022, he was nominated the chief justice of India designate and after the retirement of the then chief justice, Uday Umesh Lalit, he was sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India on 9 November 2022.

Apart from his judicial service, Justice Chandrachud was also a visiting professor of comparative constitutional law at the University of Mumbai and University of Oklahoma College of Law in the United States. He has lectured at the Australian National University, Deakin University, Melbourne Law School, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Work Cycle of D.Y Chandrachud

Additional Solicitor General for Union of India

1998 - March 28th, 2000

Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court

June 1998 - March 29th, 2000

Permanent Judge of Bombay High Court

March 29th, 2000 - 30th October 2013

Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court

October 31st, 2013 - May 12th, 2016

At present, he is serving as the Judge of the Supreme Court and will retire from the Supreme Court of India on 10th Nov 2024.

Notable Judgements

Justice D.Y Chandrachud during his Supreme Court service has been on the highest number of Constitution Benches to hear matters on constitutional questions. He has delivered judgments on Indian constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, human rights, gender justice, public interest litigation, commercial law, and criminal law.

Insights on some of his notable judgments are:

Privacy

To guarantee the right to privacy constitutionally Justice Chandrachud grounded the right to privacy in dignity, liberty, autonomy, bodily and mental integrity, self-determination, and across a spectrum of protected rights.

Free Speech

Reportedly, to prevent the censorship of free speech and limit its exceptions strictly to the grounds mentioned in Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

Gender Justice

Justice Chandrachud authored judgments on gender justice to ensure a 'change in mindsets' promoting equal entitlements of women under the Constitution. The two main decisions under this idea were:

In the Sabrimala case, he defended the entry of women in to temple on the basis of physiology amounted to a constitutionally prohibited practice of untouchability under Article 17.

Whereas, in Joseph Shine vs Union of India, he declared the provision of the Indian Penal Code which concerned the adultery law in India unconstitutional, emphasizing the constitutional commitment to equality and dignity.

Army

Justice D.Y Chandrachud during his career took two major decisions for the armed forces of the country. The landmark verdict ending gender bias demanded the appointment of all woman officers on Short Service Commissions for the grant of Permanent Commissions on an equal basis with their male counterparts.

Some of his other landmarks include decisions on the Navy, sexual harassment at the workplace, intersectional violence, environment, labor, constitutional judgments on governance, and various affirmative actions.

Other than this Justice Chandrachud is also the Chairperson of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India. Under the chairpersonship of Justice Chandrachud, the e-Committee introduced took various exemplary steps:

• Virtual Courts
• National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG)
• Inter Operable Criminal Justice System
• e-Filing Software 3.0
• e-Payments
• e-Seva Kendra
• National Service and Tracking of Electronic Process (NSTEP)
• Judgement Search Portal
• Live Streaming o Court Proceedings

CJI Lalit demitted his role on November 8, exercising the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India. And the very next day, the honorable President administered Dr. Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, Judge of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice of India. He will serve as Chief Justice of India for 2 years and will step down on November 10, 2022.

Awards

The Harvard Law School has awarded the Center on the Legal Profession Award for Global Leadership to CJI DY Chandrachud.