Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, after a tenure of over eight years at the Supreme Court, marked his last working day on Friday with another Constitution Bench judgement in a 4:3 majority ruling and overruled its 1967 decision which held that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is not a minority institution. He will retire on November 10.
Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was elevated to the top court in 2016 and became the Chief Justice in November 2022.
His judgements have dealt with subjects like privacy, federalism and even arbitration, among others.
LOOKBACK AT KEY JUDGEMENTS PASSED BY HIM
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
TECHNOLOGY CHANGES
A mere look at the overall technological changes that have been done by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud was not only phenomenal but has not made the entire process seamless but also made it more litigant friendly.
Hybrd hearings: Launching of litigant friendly facilities includes Hybrid hearing system is one of the key achievements. During one of the hearings, Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked, “Technology is no longer a matter of choice, and it is as needed as law books. Without technology, how will the courts function?”
Listing and mentioning of cases: He had directed listing of 10 transfer petitions every day along with 10 bail applications before each court.
Now a new mechanism has been devised, and every day of the week is reserved for addressing cases relating to specific categories ranging from criminal matters, MACT matters, arbitration matters, etc.
Also, a new system of mentioning matters was introduced, thereby ensuring that all urgent matters are mentioned timely before the court in an organised manner. All advocates are now needed to send emails about the mention and the requests are addressed to.
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.
Article source: indiatoday.in
