D Y Chandrachud, the 50th CJI, his Bombay HC verdicts and his stint as a lawyer – The Indian Express

Justice Chandrachud was a Bombay High Court judge for over 13 years between March 2000 and October 2013.

In July 2013, a bench led by Justice Chandrachud, while observing that “law was equal for everyone including ministers and their relatives”, had ordered the demolition of the ‘glass house’, a bungalow illegally built by the nephew of the then state excise minister Ganesh Naik in Navi Mumbai.

In the same month, observing that “when a state cabinet minister amasses huge wealth it is a matter of investigation,” a high court bench led by Justice Chandrachud had asked the state government to be more proactive in probing the complaint filed against then water resources minister Sunil Tatkare and pulled up the police for not conducting a “fair and proper” probe on charges of money laundering and land grabbing.

In December 2012, his bench expressed displeasure over two minor boys absconding from the Mentally Disabled Children (MDC) Home in suburban Mankhurd and directed the Mumbai police to take immediate steps to trace the boys.

The Bombay High Court bench led by Justice Chandrachud in September 2012 slammed Mumbai police for arresting cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on “frivolous” grounds and “without application of mind”, saying its action breached his freedom of speech and expression.

In August 2012, granting relief to a Bandra slum dweller, Justice Chandrachud held that the developer of a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project is responsible for rehabilitating persons eligible to be allotted flats even if they are not allotted flats in the same scheme. The high court reaffirmed the 1998 ruling which said the composite redevelopment scheme could proceed with the consent of 70% of all occupants of two or more plots put together.

In June 2011, expressing distress over the declining National Child Sex Ratio over the last five decades, Justice Chandrachud directed all lower courts in Maharashtra to expedite trials in offences registered under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT).

In September 2009, Justice Chandrachud held that under the Juvenile Justice Act, a person or a couple can adopt a second child of the same gender.

In April 2006, a bench consisting of Justice Chandrachud, in order to safeguard the lives of people visiting beaches, had directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to appoint lifeguards on the beaches in the state.

In November 2004, a judgment authored by Justice Chandrachud held that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cannot reject certification of the film on the ground that it has characters that resemble real-life personalities and upheld filmmakers’ right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution to depict, appraise and criticise real-life personalities.

In his speech at the 2019 K T Desai Memorial Lecture organised by the Bombay Bar Association, one of the oldest associations of lawyers practising in the Bombay High Court, Justice Chandrachud had said that the Bombay High Court was not only his parent court, but some of his “most treasured moments” associated with the profession belonged to the premises of one of the oldest high courts in the country.

Justice Chandrachud cited two instances during his early days as a Bombay HC lawyer, a launching pad for his long career in the judiciary.

He said, “I appeared before Justice S P Bharucha (who later became 30th CJI) when he was presiding over as the judge in charge of notices of motion. My arguments were proceeding in an even tenor when the instructing advocate said something to me and I blurted it out to the court. Justice Bharucha looked at me very sternly and said, ‘You are not his master’s voice!’… a junior lawyer normally shakes when something like that is shown to him or her. But I think we cut our teeth and learnt the first faltering steps in the shadow of the great judges.”

He further said, “Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia had become a judge of the Bombay High Court in 1991 and earlier he used to appear for a leading public sector corporation and I used to appear as his junior. After Justice Kapadia’s elevation, the time came to test me and see whether I could continue the mantle of that brief. We were appearing before a division bench presided by Justice Sujata Manohar (who later became a Supreme Court judge). I was opposed by senior advocate K K Singhvi, the doyen of the labour bar and bar in general. At the end of a very long argument, Justice Manohar with her characteristic nod of the head had said, “Rule, but no interim relief”. The words ‘no interim relief’ were music to the ears of my clients, which meant I got that brief for the next 10 years before I was appointed as a judge in 2000.”

Justice Chandrachud graduated from St Stephen’s College, Delhi in 1979 and thereafter he completed his LLB from Delhi University in 1982, followed by LLM from Harvard University in 1983. He also obtained a degree of Doctor of Juridical Sciences from Harvard Law School in 1986.

He practised as an advocate before the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court among other courts and was designated as a senior advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998. He also served as an additional solicitor general (ASG) from 1998 to 2000, till he was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. After serving as a Bombay High Court judge for over 13 years, he was elevated as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court on October 31, 2013, and was later appointed a judge of the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016.