Justice DY Chandrachud Archives - Lokmarg

CJI Chandrachud Brings Mojo Back To Judiciary

‘CJI Chandrachud Brings Back Transparency, Proficiency, Easy Access to Court’

By LokMarg 29th August 2023

Bhavesh Kumar, an LLM student at National Academy of Legal Studies & Research, Hyderabad, says law students have found a new role model in CJI DY Chandrachud. His views:

The Supreme Court of India has witnessed several new initiatives in the first nine months of the dynamic leadership of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. Long pending Constitutional Law cases have been taken up for hearing, and the court has not shied away from asking tough questions from the government.

He definitely is bringing the mojo back into the judiciary, building up on the strengths as well as shedding light upon the shortcomings and improving the overall framework. From taking suo moto cognizance regarding the Manipur incident video that emerged online, asking the Centre and State to appraise the steps taken on the issue to suspending Rahul Gandhi’s two year prison sentence in the defamation case, the Supreme Court is substantiating the independence of the judiciary pillar of our vibrant democracy.

Live streaming of constitutional bench hearings and AI enabled live transcripts of court arguments are a big leap towards transparency and accessibility to the highest court of the country. There is a definite expansion of the horizons, giving so much to youth to look up to our CJI as a role model.

‘The Role of Judiciary in a Changing World’ by Hon’ble Justice Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Singapore, was organised by the Supreme Court of India this month, and they also conducted the first ever Hackathon for identifying innovative ideas and exploring practical propositions for enhancing and bringing competence to the already existing processes from ‘filing to listing’ of judicial matters.

The CJI launched the eSCR (electronic version of the Hon’ble Supreme Court Reports) as a tribute to the nation. With more than 34,000 judgments available online, the portal provides facility to search judgments based on various parameters like, phrase, words, name of the judge, bench strength, volume, citation, date of decision etc. With an aim to provide access to judgments in scheduled languages, the new feature provides translated versions of Supreme Court judgments in Indian languages making it a huge boon for not only the legal minds but also making things elementary for those interested in looking judgments up for any reason at all.

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Dr Chandrachud also gave a visionary outlook to the process of scanning and providing soft paper books for paperless court functioning to ensure that judiciary uses technology to its optimum level. ‘AI assisted Legal Translation Advisory Committee’ was also constituted with domain experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence as the Members of the Committee, to evaluate and oversee the advancement of as well as propose actions to additionally improve the utilisation of AI tools for translation of legal documents in various vernacular languages within the Supreme Court of India. Even the online RTI portal, introduced on November 24th, 2022, marks a significant stride towards transparency, the elimination of paper-based application submissions, appeals, and online payment of fees via methods like net banking, card payments, UPI, and more.

Our Chief Justice is entrusted with upholding justice and ensuring a fair application of laws and his dedication to impartiality and fairness sets an example to treat others equitably and stand up against injustices. His effective leadership skills and a strong sense of responsibility inspire young people to take on leadership roles and responsibilities in their own lives and communities.

The ethical conduct he carries can motivate young people to prioritize integrity and honesty in their own actions. Furthermore, his significant impact on shaping legal precedents and guiding the direction of the legal system can encourage anyone to pursue careers in law and contribute positively to legal reforms and progress.

As told to Deepa Gupta

SC Declines To Extend Time For SpiceJet To Make Payment To Kalanithi Maran, Kal Airways

By LokMarg 7th July 2023

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to extend the time for making payment by low-cost airline SpiceJet to media baron Kalanithi Maran, the former promoter of SpiceJet, and his Kal Airways in pursuance of an arbitral award of Rs 578 crore related to a share-transfer dispute.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud declined to grant more time to SpiceJet saying these are “luxury” litigations.
SpiceJet was directed to deposit forthwith Rs 75 crore that has to be paid to Maran and his Kal Airways towards interest on the arbitral award.

Earlier, the top court had ordered that the bank guarantee of Rs 270 crore furnished by SpiceJet to Maran and his firm must be encashed immediately if the airlines failed to pay Rs 75 crore towards interest on the arbitral award by May 13.

The apex court was hearing the appeal of SpiceJet against the November 2, 2020 order of the High Court asking the low-cost airline to deposit around Rs 243 crore as interest in connection with a share transfer dispute with its former promoter and media baron Kalanithi Maran and his firm Kal Airways.

On November 7, 2020, the top court stayed the High Court order asking SpiceJet to deposit around Rs 243 crore as interest in connection with the share transfer dispute.

SpiceJet and its promoter Ajay Singh were asked to deposit around Rs 243 crore as interest payable on Rs 579 crore, which the High Court had in 2017 asked SpiceJet to deposit under the 2018 arbitration award in the share transfer dispute. (ANI)

Haldwani Railway Land: SC Says Jan 5 Plea Against Eviction

By LokMarg 4th January 2023

The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed for January 5 the hearing of petitions challenging Uttarakhand High Court’s decision ordering the State authorities to remove encroachments from railway land in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area.

The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud who said the matter would be heard on Thursday.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the plea before the top court saying, more than 5,000 houses in Haldwani are being demolished and it is similar to the matter scheduled to be heard on Thursday. He requested the apex court to tag the matter along with the matter coming up for hearing on January 5.

“Yes it will come up tomorrow,” CJI Chandrachud said.

The Uttarakhand High Court had on December 20 ordered the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani after giving notice to the residents one week in advance.

Led by Congress MLA from Haldwani, Sumit Hridayesh, residents of the area approached the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the High Court’s order.

A total of 4,365 encroachments will be removed from the area. Those facing eviction have been living on the land for many decades.

Residents have been protesting against the removal of encroachments from railway land in compliance with a High Court order. (ANI)

No Institution In A Democracy Is Perfect: CJI Chandrachud

By LokMarg 25th November 2022

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday while talking about the Collegium system of appointing judges, said that no institution in a democracy is perfect.

“No institution in a Constitutional democracy is perfect. We work within the existing framework of the Constitution and we are faithful soldiers who implement the Constitution,” said the CJI while speaking at the Constitution Day celebrations organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

Merely reforming the Collegium system of the apex court or increasing the salary of judges will not ensure that good and qualified people join the court.

“Getting good people in judiciary is not just about reforming the collegium…” the CJI said, adding that lawyers joining the bench as judges is a call of conscience and a commitment to the public.

He said that system has to make the office of a judge appealing to young lawyers.

CJI said November 26, 1959, was an important day because it was when the constituent assembly adopted the Constitution. The process of nation-building is a constantly evolving task, he said.

Constitution is constantly evolving to meet the new social realities of the time, CJI said.

He further said that the working of the Constitution depends on how the district judiciary is working. When we celebrate the Constitution we must be conscious of histories prior to the adoption of the Constitution, he added.

CJI said the legal profession must shed away its colonial underpinnings and in a country like India where summers include extreme heatwaves because of climate change we must reconsider the strict dress code for lawyers, especially in summers. The strictness of attire should not lead to moral policing of women lawyers, he added.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also attending the event said that a country progresses in the visionary guidance of its leaders.

“If leaders become weak, the country becomes weak. If CJI becomes weak, Supreme Court becomes weak and if Supreme Court becomes weak, the judiciary becomes weak. I congratulate Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and know the judiciary will rise under him,” Rijiju said.

He said he is committed to creating better infrastructure in the country.

“Independence of the Indian judiciary is untouched. We are here to protect it. Hum sab Ek hai. Aapas mein ladna theek nahi hai. (We are all the same, we should not quarrel among ourselves),” he added.

Attorney General R Venkataramani said that we need to see what justice needs of different sections of the community and restructure fundamentally our court system, our law framing, and our law reforms.

It is time we have a permanent Law Commission which is assisted by the best quality of experts, he said. (ANI)

SC Refuses To Cancel Anil Deshmukh’s Bail

By LokMarg 11th October 2022

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel the bail granted to former Maharashtra’s former home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh in the money laundering case lodged against him by Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud refused to interfere with the Bombay High Court order which granted bail to Deshmukh.
The bench clarified that the observations made by the High Court will not influence the trial and are only confined to the issue of bail.

Enforcement Directorate has approached the apex court challenging the Bombay High Court’s order granting bail to Deshmukh, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case.

On October 4, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to Deshmukh in a money laundering case being investigated by the ED.

The High Court had ordered that the bail order would be effective from October 13, in order to enable the ED to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Deshmukh will continue to be lodged in judicial custody in Arthur Road prison as he is also being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a corruption case.

Earlier, on Deshmukh’s plea, the top court had directed the High Court to hear and decide expeditiously his bail plea.

The top court had expressed displeasure that the Bombay High Court has kept the bail application of Deshmukh pending for so many months and asked it to hear the plea of Deshmukh within this week and decide it expeditiously.

It had noted that Deshmukh’s bail plea is pending in the High Court since March 21 and it observed that keeping bail applications pending for eight months is not in consonance with the jurisprudence of bail.

Deshmukh had sought bail from the High Court in the money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate after the Special Court declined his plea.

Deshmukh was arrested by the ED in November 2021 and is currently in judicial custody.

According to the ED, Deshmukh had misused his position as state home minister and collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai through some police officers. (ANI)

Justice Chandrachud’s Constitution Bench To Go Green

By LokMarg 7th September 2022

Justice DY Chandrachud on Wednesday said that the Constitution bench headed by him will be a “green bench” and asked the lawyers not to submit any papers or physical documents.

“We will keep this a completely green bench so there would be no papers. Please don’t carry papers,” said Justice Chandrachud to the lawyers.
When an advocate expressed difficulty in using technology, Justice Chandrachud said that officials of the Supreme Court Registry and IT cell court officials are willing to train lawyers on Saturdays on how to use technology to present arguments.

Justice MR Shah also comprising the bench told the advocate, “We also got training, someday you have to start”.

“The Secretary-General and the IT Cell head are masters of technology, they said that they are willing to train the seniors on how to use technology on Saturdays,” Justice Chandrachud added.

The bench then directed the Registry to scan paper books and make them available to the bench and the parties.

The observation of the bench came while hearing a dispute between the Delhi government and the Centre over control of administrative services in the national capital.

The other three cases listed before the Constitution bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha are related to the Maharashtra political crisis dispute, the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, and the validity of extending the benefit of reservation and nomination in Legislative Assembly under Article 334 beyond the original period of operation, which is 10 years. (ANI)