Justice DY Chandrachud to be 50th Chief Justice of India

Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud is set to take over as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI) after the country's top judge UU Lalit formally recommended him as his successor on October 11.

The government, as per procedure, seeks a recommendation from the CJI to name their successor. On October 11, CJI Lalit handed over the letter naming 62-year-old Justice Chandrachud as the next top judge of the country.

CJI Lalit demits office on November 8 after serving a brief tenure of over two months. Justice Chandrachud will be sworn in the next day and will remain in office till November 10, 2024.

As per protocol, the senior most judge Supreme Court judge serves as the Chief Justice of India. The CJI's recommendation for their successor follows this protocol.

Also Read | Who will be the next Chief Justices of India? There's a clear line of succession

As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Chandrachud has been part of benches that have decided several crucial rights-based issues.

He was part of benches that decriminalised homosexuality, decriminalised adultery, and allowed women in the Sabrimala shrine.

Orders for live streaming of the apex court proceedings for the public, the historic judgment in the long-standing Ayodhya dispute and a permanent commission for women in the armed forces were also passed by benches that Justice Chandrachud was part of.

More recently, a Justice Chandrachud-led bench passed the historic judgment that extended the right to abortion to all women, regardless of their marital status and proceeded to expand the scope of this right to all persons in need of abortion without restricting the same to cis-gender women.

Before he was appointed to the Supreme Court in May 2016, Justice Chandrachud served as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court for almost two and a half years. He was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court, his parent high court, in 2000.

Prior to being elevated as a judge of the high court, Justice Chandrachud practised before the Bombay High Court as well as the Supreme Court. He was designated as a senior advocate in 1998 and later also appointed as the Additional Solicitor General up until his elevation as a judge.