New Delhi : Justice DhananjayaYeshwant (DY) Chandrachud on Wednesday took oath as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI). He will have a tenure of two years as CJI and demit office on November 10, 2024.
President DroupadiMurmu administered the oath of office of the CJI to Justice Chandrachud at the RashtrapatiBhavan.
Son of 16th CJI Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, DY Chandrachud was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016.
Born on November 11, 1959, Chandrachud was the chief justice of the Allahabad high court from October 31, 2013 until his appointment to the Supreme Court. Previously, he served as a judge of the Bombay high court from March 29, 2000.
Justice Chandrachud has been part of several Constitution benches and landmark verdicts of the top court including on matters relating to the Ayodhya land dispute, right to privacy and adultery.
He was part of the benches which delivered path-breaking judgments on decriminalising same-sex relations after it partially struck down Section 377 of the IPC, validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the Sabarimala issue. Last month, a bench headed by him expanded the scope of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and the corresponding rules to include unmarried women for abortion between 20-24 weeks of pregnancy.
Justice Chandrachud succeeds Justice UU Lalit, who demitted office on November 8, after a brief tenure of 74 days. The Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65.
In October, Justice Lalit had recommended Chandrachud’s name as his successor.
Justice Chandrachud pursued BA with Honours in Economics from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi and did his LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University. He obtained LLM degree and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from Harvard Law School, USA.
