It’s a sign of the times that a row has erupted amid likely elevation of Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud as Chief Justice of India. An allegation is that he was behind some orders to help a client of his son, a lawyer in Bombay High Court. Complaints are also that his order from the Supreme Court on Covid19 vaccination led to “wrongful” profits in thousands of crores to vaccine manufactures. The Bar Council of India, no holy cow, came up in defence of Chandrachud. BCI says that RK Pathan who raised the allegations could be one who had been convicted in the past about raising “scandalous” complaints against a judge. BCI also argues that the 165-page letter he sent to President and CJI was a malicious attempt to tarnish the “fair” image of the judiciary and Chandrachud. For one, the frenzy on the part of the Bar Council to jump to conclusions and strongly defend the judge was both suspect and unwarranted at this crucial hour. It was for the authorities including the CJI to first ascertain facts and arrive at a fair conclusion before the name for the next CJI is finalised. The BCI sought to pre-judge matters.
What was once a fair image of the Indian judiciary is being tarnished mostly from within, and not from outside. This is well-known. One is reminded of the latest instance of how Justice NV Ramana exited from the post of CJI. Soon, word spread that he took undue advantage of his position and got around 25 acres of land from the Telangana government in the name of an institution he planned to set up in Hyderabad. Quid pro quos are suspected in every such deal but are generally not proven. There were several other allegations against him, but Ramana kept projecting himself as a sacred crow during his short 16 months stint as CJI. Justice UU Lalit who succeeded him as CJI has only 74 days to occupy the post before another CJI takes charge. He has been asked by the government to name the next CJI. Chandrachud is, as per seniority, in the line of succession. If appointed, he would have three years’ tenure, which is appreciable in a scenario where CJI’s walk in and walk out in a jiffy. Notably, he is the son of India’s longest-serving CJI, who was in the chair for over seven years, the late Justice YV Chandrachud. At a time when India’s value systems are being crumbled by politicians in power the Judiciary is the last hope and therefore should remain free from controversy.
