New Delhi: Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud has been appointed as the Chief Justice of India (CJI), with effect from November 9, 2022, by the President. He will take over as the 50th Chief Justice of India after the retirement of the incumbent CJI U U Lalit.
The outgoing CJI recommended Justice Chandrachud as his successor on October 11. As the CJI, Justice Chandrachud will have a term of over two years till November 10, 2024 - making it one of the longest terms for a CJI in the recent past, according to Live Law.
Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju congratulated Justice Chandrachud on his appointment as the next CJI.
Justice Chandrachud's father Justice Y V Chandrachud was the 16th Chief Justice of India, serving from February 2, 1978, to July 11, 1985.
Justice Chandrachud is known for his liberal and progressive judgments, the most recent one being the verdict upholding the rights of unmarried women to seek abortion of pregnancy up to 24 weeks.
As per Live Law, he was part of the Constitution Benches which decriminalized consensual homosexuality, recognised privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21, and decriminalized adultery. He was part of the majority which upheld the right of women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple. Justice Chandrachud was also a member of the five-judge bench which decided the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid case.
Justice Chandrachud was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016. Before that, he was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from October 31, 2013. His judicial career started with his appointment as a judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000. He was the Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 until his appointment as a Judge. He was designated as a Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court in 1998.
Justice Chandrachud has undergone BA with Honours in Economics from St Stephen's College, New Delhi. He completed his LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University and obtained his LLM and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from Harvard Law School, USA.
(With Live Law inputs)