Justice D Y Chandrachud is the next CJI, or WILL HE?

It is a short stint for Honourable CJI U U Lalit, but it has been one of the most hectic ones in the last few decades. The impact of changes and conventions introduced by him will take some time to materialise, but even today they are cited as revolutionary in nature. Probably, his glorious stretch of less than 3 months is casting some doubt on the otherwise obvious appointment of Justice D Y Chandrachud as the CJI.

Justice D Y Chandrachud is viral 

There is more than one recent incident to believe that not everyone is comfortable with the possibility of Justice D Y Chandrachud at the helm of affairs in the Supreme Court. For the last 10 days, people of India have been using the hashtag #Chandrachud on Twitter to express their disagreement with his elevation at the Supreme Court.

Various individuals have been digging into his past and using his old judgements to substantiate their points. One of his old judgments include the infamous “decriminalisation of adultery” judgements in 2018. In the judgement, Justice D Y Chandrachud had explicitly said that just because a woman is married, it does not mean she will not establish sexual relationship outside her marital bond.

Few have expressed their distrust of him as well, while those seemingly aware of his past have been glad about the hashtag being seen in a negative light against the Honourable Justice. Allegations of being woke are also there.

https://twitter.com/TAbalaji0500/status/1579013252981620738

Rift in collegium?

If the hashtag was not enough, more doubts were raised when Centres asked incumbent CJI U U Lalit to recommend his successor. Currently, CJI Lalit, Justice Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice SA Nazeer, and Justice KM Joseph are part of the collegium system. CJI Lalit’s recommendations for Supreme Court Justices have been bone of contention for the collegium.

CJI Lalit recommended Punjab & Haryana high court chief justice Ravi Shankar Jha, Patna high court chief justice Sanjay Karol, Manipur high court chief justice PV Sanjay Kumar, and senior advocate KV Viswanathan for the Judgeship of the apex Court. To seek support, CJI wrote to other collegium members for consent. Two of the Judges were not happy with the process, as they are in favour of in-person deliberations before official recommendations.

Law Ministry tweet complicated the problem

In this context, the Law Ministry’s tweet about publicly announcing the development with respect to the new appointment gets crucial. While, it is a convention for the Law Ministry to ask for CJI’s recommendation, it has not been the norm to announce about it in a tweet. The Law Ministry wrote, “As per the MoP on appointment of Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court Judges, today the Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice sent a letter to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for sending his recommendations for appointment of his successor.”

According to Daily Pioneer, an English Language daily newspaper, it is the first such instance. Government publicly announcing their move could be seen as an opportunity for disagreeing Collegium Judges to air their views against Justice D Y Chandrachud.

Sensational letter sent to Bar Council

If that was not enough, a sensational letter against Justice Chandrachud’s appointment was sent to the Bar Council of India. A person named Rashid Khan Pathan accused him of benefiting his son Abhinav Chandrachud. Rashid is a lawyer and President of the Supreme Court and High Court Litigant Association.

In his letter, Rashid wrote, “Having perceived an adverse atmosphere and having realized that their plan to commit extortion is failed, all the accused including Adv. Abhinav Chandrachud and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud hatched a further conspiracy to exert pressure upon the other Petitioners & also upon the High Court. In furtherance of the said conspiracy said Anita K. Chavan has filed a total bogus Petition before the Supreme Court. [SLP (Crl.) No. 9131 of 2021]”,

In its reply, BCI alleged malafide intent on the part of Pathan and those who covered the letter in the media. According to the BCI, the letter is, “a scurrilous and malicious attempt to interfere with the functioning of the judiciary and the administration of justice”.

3 big developments in a span of 10 days indicates a clear unwillingness on parts of the populace. Whether it is a part of conspiracy with bad intent or genuine, is subject to debates and deliberations. But certainly, if these issues rise at such a crucial juncture of time, it is not a good sign for future appointments. It hurts the credibility of Collegium system.

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