Page 9 - D Y Chandrachud

I myself am servant of law: CJI on reforming SC's Collegium system

He said though CJI has brought many reforms, the reforms relating to Collegium and senior designation were much needed to take the judiciary to new heights

As a judge, I am servant of law and Constitution: CJI D Y Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said that as a judge, he is a "servant" of the law and the Constitution and has to follow the position that has been laid down. As soon as a bench headed by the CJI assembled for the day's proceedings, advocate Mathews J Nedumpara mentioned a matter before the court. The lawyer then told the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, about the need for reforms in the collegium system as well as abolition of the senior advocate designation. "You have the freedom to pursue your heart's desire. As the Chief Justice of India, but more importantly, as a judge first, I am a servant of the law and the Constitution," Justice Chandrachud said. "I have to follow a position which has been laid down," he said, adding, "I cannot say this is what I like and I will do it." In October this year, the apex court had dismissed a plea challenging the designation of lawyers as senior advocates, saying the petition was a "misadventure

SC rejects plea seeking direction to fix expenses' limit by parties

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a direction to fix the limit of expenses by political parties and candidates in elections, saying these are matters of legislative policy. "Either these are legislative changes or policy matters. How can we entertain a petition like this," a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud observed. The bench was hearing a plea filed by a Haryana-based man seeking several directions, including to calculate and fix the limit of expenses by political parties and candidates, restrict the expenditure on articles printed and posted prior to nominations and calculate expenses of rallies performed during filing of nomination. "These are all matters of legislative policy," said the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The plea had also sought a direction to all the high courts to decide election petitions within six months. "These are not matters on which we can merely give directions. There is already a law..

Govt must be given latitude to make adjustments crucial to save nation: SC

Observing that several northeastern states are affected by insurgency and violence, the Supreme Court Wednesday said the government must be given "latitude and leeway" to make adjustments necessary to save the nation. Referring to section 6A of the Citizenship Act applicable exclusively to Assam, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said governments have to make compromises for the overall well-being of the nation. "We must also give the government that latitude. Even today there are parts of North East, we may not name them, but there are states affected by insurgency, affected by violence. We have to give the government that leeway to make adjustments necessary to save the nation," Chandrachud said. He made the observation after senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that section 6A operates in a "blanket manner" and rewards illegal immigrants who continue to stay in Assam in violation of the citizenship law. "Assam

State must side with weaker population in democracy: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said the state must side with the weaker population, which may be a numerical or a social minority so that all citizens feel free in a democracy. Speaking at Justice Keshav Chandra Dhulia Memorial Essay Competition here, the CJI said the majority will have its way in a democracy, but the minority must have its say. He said democracy must engage with all its stakeholders in order to be more than a mere approximation of majoritarian preferences. This engagement may or may not lead to an outcome right away but will definitely remain etched as a historical fact capable of being resurrected in the future, the CJI said. "For all citizens to feel free in a democracy, the state must side with the weaker population which may be a numerical or a social minority. This may at first appear to be at odds with the democratic principle of majority rule. However, a mere rule by the majority can be established by many forms of government," he

Retd judges keeping country's arbitral system in tight-fist grip: Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar lamented on Saturday that retired judges have kept the country's arbitral system in a "tight-fist grip", denying a chance to other qualified minds, and echoed the remarks of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that it resembles an "old boys' club". Dhankhar suggested that the time has come when people need to introspect and move forward by bringing about necessary changes, including, if required, by legislation. "Nowhere on the planet, in no other country, in no other system there is such a tight-fist grip on the arbitral system by retired judges. In our country, this is at large," he said. The vice president lauded the "bold" remarks of Justice Chandrachud -- a person, he said, is changing the landscape of the judiciary in the country -- on the arbitral system in India. Dhankhar said the CJI reflected on the lack of diversity in appointing arbitrators. Justice Chandrachud had said retired judges dominate the field, he pointed out. "He goes on to

Top judges across nations agree 'right to legal aid' must begin early: CJI

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Tuesday said top judges of several countries agree that the right to legal aid has to begin "at the earliest," even before arrest of an accused. He said judges need to educate not just students but the masses also about it. The CJI was speaking at the valedictory session of the two-day 'Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid: Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South' organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) here. The conference was attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Besides them, more than 200 delegates including Chief Justices of Bangladesh, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, the Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Zimbabwe and the ministers of justice from Kazakhstan, Nepal, Palau, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Zambia took part in the meeting. "The right to legal aid, all Chief Justices have concluded, has to be

Imperative to amplify justice needs of under-represented: CJI Chandrachud

Access to justice cannot be secured only by crafting pro-people jurisprudence in judgments, but requires active progress on the administrative side of a court, such as improving infrastructure and enhancing legal-aid services, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said on Monday. Speaking at the first "Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid: Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South" organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) here, Justice Chandrachud said the challenge before judges is not to do justice in the facts of an individual case, but to institutionalise the processes and look beyond the immediate as well. The CJI said the judiciary has the potential to play an extraordinary role in strengthening access to justice, as has been uniquely displayed by several countries in the "Global South". He said the complexities of law and process, the inequality between ordinary citizens and powerful adversaries, judicial delays and the belief that the syste

Imperative to amplify justice needs of under-represented, says CJI

Access to justice cannot be secured only by crafting pro-people jurisprudence in judgements but requires active progress on the administrative side of the court such as improving infrastructure and enhancing legal aid services, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Monday. Speaking at the first Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid organised by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) here, Chandrachud said the challenge for judges is not to do justice in the facts of the individual case but to institutionalise the processes and look beyond the immediate as well. "Access to justice is not a right that can be secured only by crafting pro-people jurisprudence in our judgements rather it requires active progress on the administrative side of the court as well," Chandrachud said. The CJI said the discourse about human rights and access to justice has historically been monopolised by voices from the Global North (industrialised nations) which makes such dialogues ...

Citizens should not be afraid of approaching courts: CJI Chandrachud

The Supreme Court has acted as a "people's court" and citizens should not be afraid of going to courts or view it as the last resort, Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said on Sunday. Justice Chandrachud said just as the Constitution allows us to resolve political differences through established democratic institutions and processes, the courts system helps in resolving many disagreements through established principles and processes. "In this way, every case in every court in the country is an extension of constitutional governance," the CJI said while speaking at the inauguration of the Constitution Day celebrations at the apex court. President Droupadi Murmu delivered the inaugural address at the programme, which was also attended by apex court judges Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and others. In his address, the CJI said, "In the last seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has acted as a people's court. Thousand

India came out of adverse situations due to its Constitution, says Meghwal

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday said India was able to strengthen democracy as the judiciary and the governments did their work. He also said that India fared better than its neighbours due to its Constitution, which he described as a living document. Addressing an event in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu and Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to celebrate Constitution Day, the minister said the country has been able to come out of adverse situations due to its Constitution. "Countries around us got independence -- Pakistan attained independence with us; Sri Lanka got independence before us but disturbance, Nepal there was disturbance, there was disturbance in Myanmar," he said adding Bangladesh also faced problems. "But there is only one key reason as to why we moved in the right direction. We had the living document, the Constitution," he said. The minister said India came out several adverse situations due to the Constitution. "We came out of variou

Plea for review of same-sex marriages verdict in SC for open court hearing

A petition seeking review of the October 17 verdict refusing to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriages was on Thursday mentioned before the Supreme Court for an open court hearing. A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for one of the petitioners, that the review plea needed to be heard in open court to redress the grievances of those seeking validation of same-sex marriages. The bench also comprised Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. I have not examined the (review) petition. Let me circulate it (among judges of that constitution bench), the CJI said. All the judges of the constitution bench were of the view that there was some kind of discrimination against queer persons and hence they needed relief as well, Rohatgi said. According to the apex court registry, the review plea was listed for consideration on November 28, he said. In the first week of November, one of the petitioners had mo

SC upholds validity of key provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld certain key provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) amid the claim of several petitioners that that they are violative of fundamental rights like the right to equality of those against whom insolvency proceedings are initiated. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra decided as many as 391 petitions challenging various provisions of the IBC. Many pleas challenged the constitutional validity of sections 95(1), 96(1), 97(5), 99(1), 99(2), 99(4), 99(5), 99(6) and 100 of the Code. These provisions deal with the various stages of insolvency proceedings against a defaulting firm or individuals. Upholding the provisions to be constitutionally valid, the bench held that they did not suffer from arbitrariness as contended. "The IBC cannot be held to be operating in a retroactive manner in order to hold it violative of the Constitution. Thus, we hold that the statute does not suffer from

Heeralal Samariya sworn in as CIC, becomes first Dalit to hold post

The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over all Central Public Authorities

SC sets up panel for appointment of members to Delhi power regulator DERC

The Supreme Court on Monday set up a three-member selection panel for short-listing and appointing two temporary members of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the selection committee will comprise Justice Jayant Nath, former Delhi High Court judge and present pro tem DERC head, Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, the chairperson of APTEL (Appellate Tribunal for Electricity) and Justice Asha Menon, a former Delhi High Court judge. The bench said the selection panel shall recommend two names for each position with information regarding their ability, integrity and domain knowledge, preferably within one month. The names of short-listed candidates will be forwarded to the office of the lieutenant governor of Delhi and the chief minister for appointment, it added. The bench said the panel will be free to devise methods for selection of the members of the national capital's power regulatory

SC asks for national model for girls' toilets in govt-aided schools

The Supreme Court Monday directed the Centre to lay down a national model for building toilets commensurate with the number of girl students in all government-aided and residential schools across the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also asked the Union government about the policy it has formulated for distribution of sanitary napkins to female school students nationally. The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said the Centre should bring uniformity in the procedure for distribution of sanitary napkins. During the hearing, the Centre informed the apex court that a draft national policy for distribution of sanitary napkins free of cost to school-going girls has been formulated and sent to stakeholders for eliciting their comments. The top court had earlier warned the states, which had not submitted their response to the Centre on formulating a uniform national policy on menstrual hygiene for girls studying in schools, that it will t

SC to hear on Monday Punjab govt's plea against guv's delay in nod to bills

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea moved by the Punjab government on the issue of alleged delay in granting assent by Governor Banwarilal Purohit on bills passed by the Assembly. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear the plea, which has also sought directions to the governor to clear all pending bills, which have been passed by the Assembly and are awaiting his assent. The plea has said such "unconstitutional inaction" has brought the entire administration to a "grinding halt". It has said the governor cannot indefinitely sit over the bills as he has restricted powers under Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with the governor's power to give or withhold assent or reserve a bill for the president's consideration. The Punjab governor is involved in a running feud with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. On November 1, Purohit gave his approval to tw

Legislature can enact fresh law to cure deficiency, can't overrule it: CJI

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said the legislature can enact a fresh law to cure a deficiency in a judgment but it cannot directly overrule it. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Chandrachud said judges don't think about how the society would respond when they decide cases and that is the difference between the elected arm of the government and the judiciary. "There is a dividing line between what the legislature can do, and what the legislature can't do when there is a judgment of the court. If a judgment decides a particular issue and it points out a deficiency in law, it is always open for the legislature to enact a fresh law to cure the deficiency," the CJI said. "What the legislature cannot do is to say that we think the judgment is wrong and therefore we overrule the judgment. The judgment of a court cannot be directly overruled by the legislature," the CJI said. He also said judges are guided by constitutional morality and not public morality

SC rejects plea against transfer of Gyanvapi case from one court to another

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's plea challenging the Allahabad High Court chief justice's administrative decision withdraw the Gyanvapi case from a single-judge bench hearing it since 2021. The single-judge bench was hearing the plea challenging the maintainability of a suit seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists in Varanasi. Dismissed, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said after hearing the submissions of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who represented the mosque committee. We should not interfere with the order of the chief justice of the high court...In high courts, it is a very standard practice. This must lie in the realm of the chief justice of the high court, the bench said. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) is challenging the withdrawal of the case from one single judge bench and its assignment to some other bench by the

Don't want Supreme Court to become 'tarikh-pe-tarikh' court: Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday urged lawyers not to seek adjournments in fresh matters, saying he does not want the Supreme Court to become a 'tarikh-pe-tarikh' court. At the outset of the day's proceedings, the CJI flagged the issue of lawyers seeking adjournments in fresh matters and said in the last two months adjournment slips were moved in 3,688 matters by advocates. "Unless it is very very necessary, please don't file the adjournment slips...I don't want this court to be a tarikh-pe-tarikh' court," the CJI, who was sharing the bench with justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said. "Tarikh-pe-Tarikh" (repeated adjournments) was a famous Sunny Deol dialogue in Bollywood film "Damini" where the actor rued the adjournment culture in courts. The CJI said that now with the help of lawyers' bodies, the time gap in the listing of fresh matters after their filing in the top court has been significantly reduced. He, however, rued the fact that after their listing