No greater feeling than serving those in need: Outgoing CJI D Y Chandrachud

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said creating impact on the lives of people made him tick as judge, as he summed up his fairly long tenure of over two years in the Supreme Court.

In his speech at the farewell function organised by SC Bar Association, he said healing lies not only in giving relief alone but in giving a patient hearing.

Talking about the efforts to bring in transparency, he said he believed in sunlight is the best disinfectant and brought some of the reforms, which also resulted into exposing his personal life to the public scrutiny and criticism.

"But so be it. My shoulders are broad enough to accept all the criticism that we have faced," he said on the last working day in the office. Taking a dig at the trolls, he said those who often criticised him may now find themselves unemployed following his retirement. “I am probably one of the most trolled individuals and judges across the system. On a lighter vein, I am just wondering what will happen from Monday because all those who trolled me will be rendered unemployed," the CJI said.

Justice Chandrachud was sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India on November 9, 2022. His tenure as the CJI would end on November 10. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016 from the post of Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.

The CJI was a part of several landmark judgments such as the Ayodhya land dispute, the abrogation of Article 370 and the decriminalisation of consensual gay sex, right to privacy.

Earlier on the day, presiding over a ceremonial bench with CJI-designate Sanjiv Khanna, CJI Chandrachud said, "If I have ever hurt anyone in the court, please forgive me".

He also said that he is leaving with a sense of happiness, as the next CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna he is so stable, so solid, and so committed to the cause of justice.He addressed the courtroom filled with lawyers, legal fraternity members, and his family members.

 “It is a great honour to be sitting in this court. When I was young, I used to sit in the last row of this court, watched the greats of the Bar, learned so much about how to argue, behave in the court, courtcraft,” he said.

Capturing the essence of his tenure in the apex court, he said, “We are here as pilgrims…but the work, which we do can either make or mar the institution…there have been great judges here in the past, who passed on the baton to the succeeding generations. That is something which sustains the institutions”. 

“Different people with diverse viewpoints come to the court and pass the baton along. So, I am leaving in another two minutes’, it is not going to make a slightest difference to the court,” he said.SCBA

President, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, “You are an extraordinary son of an extraordinary father... The ever- smiling Dr Chandrachud, your face shall be etched forever.” The CJI's father Justice Y V Chandrachud was the longest serving CJI of the country for his tenure lasted over seven years.