New Delhi:
On the last day of his tenure as the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud gave a formal message from the bench and accepted the reality that he could no longer serve as the country’s highest judge.
“I cannot give justice from tomorrow, but I am satisfied,” he said.
Chief Justice Chandrachud, who assumed office on November 9, 2022, resigned today after completing his two-year tenure. Recalling the pleasant moment with his registrar judicial the previous evening, he said, ‘When my registrar judicial asked me what time to start the formal program, I said 2 pm thinking that I would be able to finish many pending matters. Wondering to myself – is anyone going to be here at 2pm on a Friday or am I just watching myself on the screen?
Reflecting on his career, he described the role of judges as that of pilgrims, coming to court each day with a commitment to serve. “What we do can make or break cases,” he said. He paid tribute to the “great judges who graced this court and passed it on the baton” and felt reassured by leaving the bench in the able hands of Justice Sanjeev Khanna, whom he praised as a capable leader.
“If I have hurt anyone in court, please forgive me,” he said, quoting the Jain phrase “michami dukkadam,” meaning “forgive all my wrongdoings.”
Lawyers and members of the bar gathered to pay their respects to the outgoing chief justice and described him as a “rock star” of the judiciary.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was nominated as his successor and was sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on November 11, said, ‘I have not had the opportunity to attend Justice Chandrachud’s court, but what he has done for the marginalized. And the needy is beyond compare.”
He added a personal anecdote about Justice Chandrachud’s fondness for samosas and noted that samosas were served at almost every meeting, although the Chief Justice himself refused to eat samosas.
Justice Chandrachud’s tenure saw many changes within the court, from the establishment of Mitti Cafe, a facility for empowering persons with disabilities, to a dedicated bar room for women lawyers, as well as other beautification projects of the Supreme Court premises.
During his two-year tenure, Justice Chandrachud wrote a series of landmark judgments. Notably, he presided over the constitution bench upholding the abrogation of Article 370, which redefined the politics of Jammu and Kashmir, ordered elections by September 2024 and emphasized the need to restore the state “as soon as possible and at the earliest”.
In another important ruling, Justice Chandrachud refused to change the Special Marriage Act to recognize same-sex marriage, adjourning the legislature. However, he emphasized the right of the LGBTQ+ community to be free from discrimination and treated with dignity.
Justice Chandrachud also led the decision to scrap the controversial electoral bond scheme, mandated greater transparency in political financing and ordered the State Bank of India to stop issuing electoral bonds.