Thread by @barandbench

Celebration of the BIRTH CENTENARY of
Late Shri Y.V. CHANDRACHUD

Justice RF Nariman will preside over the topic - A Changing Society and Constitutional Continuity - Experience in Pursuit of Justice

Late Justice YV Chandrachud was an alumnus of ILS Law College who later served as the Chief Justice of India from 22-02-1978 to 11-07-1985 (7 years).

He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of India from 28-08-1972.

You can watch the ceremony live on YouTube here -

Till Indian Judiciary breathes Justice Chandrachud will be with us - Justice Mridula Bhatkar says in her statement

Director of ILS while speaking said, Justice YV Chandrachud was the only person to have secured First Class in the LLB conducted in 1942.

Dr Sanjay Jain, Principal, ILS - Transformation of Supreme Court by widening the copy of Doctrine of Standing was done during by Justice YV Chandrachud.

It became Supreme Court of Indians from Supreme Court of India

Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud - He (Justice YV Chandrachud) use to make musical couplets with names of Solicitor Firms.

Justice YV Chandrachud was the Government Pleader in the Nanavati case where he sought life imprisonment for Commander Nanavati.

Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud - When he was in Canada, Commander Nanavati wanted to meet him. Nanavati thanked him for life imprisonment and avoiding death penalty (Commander Nanavati shooting case).

Dr Abhinav Chandrachud: To a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley, was his (Justice YV Chandrachud) favourite poem.

Dr Chintan Chandrachud: My grandfather (Justice YV Chandrachud) never took himself too seriously. He could engage in conversations about Shakespeare as well as about the latest cricket score by Sachin Tendulkar.

Dr. Chintan Chandrachud: He treated everyone equally, whether it was the President of India or a security guard. My mother fought with cancer for a number of years and my grandfather visited the hospital every day without expecting any special treatment.

Neema Kulkarni (Daughter of Justice YV Chandrachud): [Written message from her]: My father is remembered with great admiration. I try to emulate him in every possible way.

Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud: My father taught me compassion and love for learning. His entire life reflected a sense of balance. My mother (Prabha) was his companion and strength for life

Justice DY Chandrachud: Technology today is allowing me to speak today and over 17,000 courts to function. Is continuity desirable now or has the world changed so much that we should change the way we or our government's function?

Justice DY Chandrachud: Our constitution has changed through dialogues, and amendments. Its meaning has grown deeper by interpretations. However, the underlying structure remains constant

Justice Chandrachud: Our struggle for a more just society has only continued and which forms the basis of 'Constitutional Continuity'.

Justice Chandrachud: The Indian Constitution is a product of its time. The Constitution embodied a transformative vision at the start. The history of our constitution must be traced alongside the prevalence of British rule where equal citizenship was not enjoyed.

Justice Chandrachud: At the founding moment of our constitution, our founders were inspired by the fabian society.

Justice Chandrachud: The constitution gave voice to the historically marginalised. Judiciary has also stepped up to adapt to changing times while adhering to the basic concept of our constitution. Justice YV Chandrachud tried to give voice to constitutional justice.

Justice Chandrachud: Justice YV Chandrachud had a special place for criminal law in his heart. His judgment served as a reformative light and not only serve the penological purpose.

Justice Chandrachud: The constitution wove into its fabric an idea where a citizen's caste, creed, or religion will not determine the idea of justice. However Indian society still remains deeply hierarchical.

Justice Chandrachud: Every part of our constitution does not speak in one voice. It shows divergence and plurality. The constitution is not based on unitary imagination but a democratic one.

Justice Chandrachud: Our discourse in what constitutes discrimination has changed.

Justice Chandrachud: Substantive reading of Article 15 rules out any difference between men and women.

Justice Chandrachud: In the case concerning the permanent commission to women in the army, Union had argued that women were different considering privacy and other reasons. The government too had withdrawn the statements as it realised it was based on gender stereotypes.

Justice Chandrachud: Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act was a corrective legislation. The radical feminist thought has urged the state to intervene in the private sphere where women were treated as subordinates.

Justice Chandrachud: In Shah Bano's case it was seen how intersectional discrimination works. Though a later legislation tried to overturn the verdict, SC had ensured that Muslim women are entitled to maintenance.

Justice Chandrachud: The LGBT community had used the constitution to protect their rights. (Navtej Johar judgment). Section 377 made LGBT invisible and criminal but SC could not sit on the fence.

Justice Chandrachud: Basic rights give rise to corresponding duties. It is important to recognise that poverty in India could be because of identity.

Justice Chandrachud: Unchecked private action leads to inequities. The challenges faced by constitutional contestations today are novel.

Justice Chandrachud: I and my father (Justice YV Chandrachud) are separated in time but are united in the constitutional framework. People have engaged with the constitution differently at different points of time.

Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman: The Narimans and Chandrachuds go back a long way. My father was taught by Justice YV Chandrachud. Chief Justice Chandrachud told me that my father (Senior Adv Fali Nariman) sat in the front row and spoke incessantly in class.

Justice Nariman: In 230 years of US Supreme Court, the 17th Chief Justice post is now going on. Compared to that India has a long list of 47. We had Chief Justice's for less than three years and CJI YV Chandrachud had a tenure of 7.5 years which could have been over in 5 years.

Justice Nariman: The precise vision of DN Rao who was the constitutional advisor was freedom of few must be sacrificed to save the freedom of many. His fervent plea to make directive principles override fundamental rights was not heeded to. But Justice YV Chandrachud had noted it

Justice Nariman: In the Rajasthan vs UOI case in 1977 which led to the ousting of Congress, Justice Goswami stated that parts of the case were in a cold shudder as the then CJI had met the ex-president of the party.

Justice Nariman: The then CJI included a postscript to the judgment that he indeed met the ex-president but not to discuss the verdict but to state that the verdict will be delivered after the ex-president's son's marriage.

Justice Nariman: Justice Chandrachud's empathy for criminal law was well known. His verdict in Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia's case (1980) laid down the law of anticipatory bail. He had held that anticipatory bail must be left to judges who have the experience to take a wise decision.

Justice Nariman: Justice YV Chandrachud's verdict in Minerva mills case shows the balance that needs to be made between fundamental rights (Part III) and directive principles (Part IV). He said disturbing this balance would disturb the basic structure of the Constitution.

Justice Nariman: Restrictions imposed by Article 19(1)(a) and (g) is justified if its interest in the general public. This is the end. The means is the reasonableness of the restriction. If the means are in excess then the law would be struck down even if the end is legal.

Justice Nariman: The means and ends analysis by Justice YV Chandrachud is something we need to be thankful to him for.

Justice Nariman: In another judgment by Justice YV Chandrachud, it was stated that if a constitutional amendment was not brought into force by the executive within a reasonable time then the government was not fulfilling its responsibility in the parliament.

(Kindly read DN Rao in the thread as: Sir Benegal Narsing Rau)

My father and I are separated in time but united in the Constitutional framework: Justice DY Chandrachud remembers former CJI YV Chandrachud

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