NEW DELHI: CJI Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud‘s quarter-century-long judicial career, marked by pathbreaking judgments and judicial reforms, ended on Friday with effusive praises sprinkled with superlatives from eminent to little-known lawyers during his farewell ceremony in the largest courtroom of Supreme Court that unprecedentedly continued for over an hour.
This remarkable judicial journey of DYC, as he is popularly referred to, would not have begun if then Bombay high court Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal had not dissuaded him from withdrawing his consent for appointment as a judge of the HC.
Irked by the delay in his name being recommended for judgeship by the SC collegium, senior advocate DYC had walked into the chamber of CJ Sabharwal and conveyed that he wanted to withdraw his name.
It was a journey of learning, says CJI on his last day in SC
Justice Sabharwal, who went on to become CJI, asked him to wait for a week. DYC was appointed as a judge of the Bombay high court on March 29, 2000. A quarter century later, he did not look a day older than how he looked when he took oath as an HC judge.
This youthful appearance and the grinding work schedule he maintained till the last day was the envy of many senior advocates, who repeatedly asked him to share the secret of the ‘elixir’ he drinks daily to maintain his boyish smile, which they said made them look very old. Disciplined life and regular yoga at the dawn is the secret, divulged SCAORA president Vipin Nair.
In the presence of his wife and adopted daughters and a crowd of lawyers in the courtroom, CJI Chandrachud said it was a journey of learning for him all through the 25 years, especially in Supreme Court. “We are pilgrims or birds of passage. Judges come and go. My departure would not make any difference. I am leaving the court in the able hands of Justice Khanna,” the CJI added.
CJI-designate Sanjiv Khanna said it would be difficult for him to measure up to Justice Chandrachud and acknowledged the stupendous work done by the CJI in terms of disposing 9-J bench and larger bench matters pending for years and simultaneously undertake judicial reforms while infusing information technology to ease access to courts.
Attorney general R Venkataramani penned a poem to highlight the qualities of Justice Chandrachud and the legacy he is leaving behind. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said though many of his judgments went against the govt, as a lawyer he never felt that he was not heard properly, or his point of view did not get due weightage in adjudication.
Supreme Court Bar Association president Kapil Sibal said in his 52 years of practice in SC, he had never come across a judge better than CJI Chandrachud and declared that there will never be one like him, which meant he had surpassed the stature of his father Y V Chandrachud, who was CJI for seven and a half years from 1978 till 1985. Senior advocates A M Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi said they are admirers of his untiring efforts to make the CJI’s courtroom a place of comfort for everyone.
Justice Sabharwal, who went on to become CJI, asked him to wait for a week. DYC was appointed as a judge of the Bombay high court on March 29, 2000. A quarter century later, he did not look a day older than how he looked when he took oath as an HC judge.
This youthful appearance and the grinding work schedule he maintained till the last day was the envy of many senior advocates, who repeatedly asked him to share the secret of the ‘elixir’ he drinks daily to maintain his boyish smile, which they said made them look very old. Disciplined life and regular yoga at the dawn is the secret, divulged SCAORA president Vipin Nair.
In the presence of his wife and adopted daughters and a crowd of lawyers in the courtroom, CJI Chandrachud said it was a journey of learning for him all through the 25 years, especially in Supreme Court. “We are pilgrims or birds of passage. Judges come and go. My departure would not make any difference. I am leaving the court in the able hands of Justice Khanna,” the CJI added.
CJI-designate Sanjiv Khanna said it would be difficult for him to measure up to Justice Chandrachud and acknowledged the stupendous work done by the CJI in terms of disposing 9-J bench and larger bench matters pending for years and simultaneously undertake judicial reforms while infusing information technology to ease access to courts.
Attorney general R Venkataramani penned a poem to highlight the qualities of Justice Chandrachud and the legacy he is leaving behind. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said though many of his judgments went against the govt, as a lawyer he never felt that he was not heard properly, or his point of view did not get due weightage in adjudication.
Supreme Court Bar Association president Kapil Sibal said in his 52 years of practice in SC, he had never come across a judge better than CJI Chandrachud and declared that there will never be one like him, which meant he had surpassed the stature of his father Y V Chandrachud, who was CJI for seven and a half years from 1978 till 1985. Senior advocates A M Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi said they are admirers of his untiring efforts to make the CJI’s courtroom a place of comfort for everyone.
