"My Work Will Speak": Chief Justice DY Chandrachud To NDTV After Oath

In his first statements to the media after the swearing-in ceremony, Justice Chandrachud said, "Serving the ordinary citizen is my priority," and promised reforms in registry and judicial processes. He told NDTV, "My work, not words, will speak." 

Justice Chandrachud will serve as the head of the Supreme Court for two years -- till November 10, 2024. He succeeds Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, who was at the top post for a short tenure of 74 days.

Justice Chandrachud was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on May 13, 2016. He has been part of several Constitution benches and landmark verdicts, including in the Ayodhya land dispute and the right to privacy.

He was also part of the benches that delivered crucial judgments on decriminalising same-sex relations by partially striking down Section 377 of the IPC, the validity of Aadhaar scheme and the Sabarimala issue.

A Justice Chandrachud-led bench had passed several orders to relieve miseries faced by people during the Covid crisis. More recently, a bench headed by him expanded the scope of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act to include "unmarried woman".

Justice Chandrachud is the son of late Justice YV Chandrachud, the longest-serving Chief Justice Of India who was at the top post for seven years.

Interestingly, Justice Chandrachud, who would be the first Chief Justice whose father was also one, has twice overturned judgments led by Justice YV Chandrachud.

Justice Chandrachud holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from St Stephen's College. He later completed am LLB from Delhi University, and an LLM and a doctorate from Harvard Law School in the US.

He has practised law at the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court, and was also a visiting professor of comparative Constitutional law at the University of Mumbai.

He was designated a senior advocate by the Bombay High Court in June 1998 and became Additional Solicitor General in the same year till his appointment as a judge. Justice Chandrachud has earlier served as a judge in Bombay High Court and as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.