50th CJI Chandrachud retires

D.Y. Chandrachud, officially retired, after having served a long tenure that encompassed substantial judicial reforms and historic verdicts. He will be succeeded by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, currently the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court.

Key-Judgments Passed by D Y Chandrachud

• Ayodhya land dispute case:A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict in November 2019, ruled that the entire disputed land be handed over to a trust to be constituted for the construction of a Ram mandir and that Muslims be given five acres of either the acquired land near the site or at a suitable prominent place in Ayodhya for building a mosque.
• Electoral Bonds Case:The five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the Union government’s electoral bond scheme for political funding.
• Decriminalisation of Section 377: A five-judge Constitution Bench struck down IPC Section 377 to the extent that it criminalised homosexuality.
• Abortion rights for unmarried women:Chief Justice Chandrachud expanded the rights of unmarried women by allowing them access to abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act up to 24 weeks, on par with married women.
• Decriminalisation of Adultery:In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench held that adultery is not a crime and struck it off the Indian Penal Code and held that Section 497 of the IPC was unconstitutional because it violated Articles 14, 15, and 21.
• Lifting ban on entry of women into Kerala's Sabarimala temple:Supreme Court struck down in 2018 a rule that disallowed girls and women in the 10-50 age group from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
• Private Property: The constitution bench ruled that not all private property can be deemed a material resource of the community for redistribution under Article 39(b) of the Constitution.
• Right to Privacy:In August 2017, a nine-judge constitution bench ruled unanimously that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
• Delhi government vs Lieutenant Governor:A five-judge constitution bench ruled in May 2023 that the legislature has control over bureaucrats in the administration of services, except in areas outside the legislative powers of the National Capital Territory.
• Technological Changes
  • Hybrd hearings:A hybrid hearing is a mixture of a court hearing, where the people involved (parties, lawyers, witnesses and the Judge) attend in person, and a remote hearing. 
  • Listing and mentioning of cases: He had directed listing of 10 transfer petitions every day along with 10 bail applications before each court.
  • Paperless courts: With an aim to minimise the usage of paper, Chief Justice Chandrachud launched e-filing for advocates, including an online appearance portal for advocates. To bring in more transparency, the Supreme Court onboarded its case data on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).
  • New smart courtrooms: The Supreme Court got nine futuristic courtrooms, with modern technology, transforming into a paperless court.
    • Judges dais now have new smart pop screens before the judges for the document reading.
    • The law books in courtrooms have been replaced with digital libraries. To have seamless video conferencing, a screen of 120 inches has been placed on one of the walls of the courtroom for judges.