Outgoing Chief Justice DY Chandrachud - who demits office today - took a gentle dig at his many trolls, declaring, "I am, probably, one of the most trolled judges... and, in a lighter vein, am wondering what will happen from Monday?! All those who trolled me will be unemployed!"
The exiting Chief Justice was, indeed, the subject of several troll attacks during his time in office, including a recent experience when he was criticised for shifting in his seat, to alleviate pain in his back. He said he had been subject to "vicious abuse... trolling (and) the knives were out".
"But my shoulders are broad enough..." he chuckled.
Chief Justice Chandrachud, who assumed office on November 9, 2022, bid farewell to his position today after his two-year term ended. As he did so, he looked back on his period in office, during which he delivered several landmark verdicts, including challenges to the government scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the electoral bonds case.
The high-profile and tension-filled nature of the job, however, never tainted his friendly relationships with fellow judges, he said. "We took difficult decisions many times but there was never any difference of opinion between us (and) all meetings were held with laughter and happiness. The most important thing was - we were not there with personal agendas..."
"We were there to serve the interests of the institution..." he said.
He cited the example of a Dalit student whose father, a daily wage labourer failed, by the narrowest of margins, to meet the deadline to pay fees to secure admission for his son in the prestigious IIT in Dhanbad in Jharkhand. The institution declared the son's seat forfeit.
For three months, the father did the rounds of the SC/ST Commission and the Jharkhand and Madras High Courts, and then he approached the Supreme Court. A bench led by the outgoing Chief Justice promptly ordered the institute to admit the boy in the class he had been offered.
The petitioner's counsel told the court the student's father earns Rs 450 daily and the demand of paying Rs 17,500 at short notice was obviously a difficult proposition. "All the best. Achha kariye (Do well)," the Chief Justice told the boy from Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh.
Such incidents, he said today, highlight the importance of being open to new knowledge, situations, and cases, a luxury not afforded to lawyers, who can decide to refuse some cases.
"The importance of the Bar is also known only then... every day we learn new knowledge and new methods," the outgoing Chief Justice said, thinking back to his Allahabad High Court days.
The exiting Chief Justice also spoke about his disciplined father.
"He bought a small flat in Pune. I asked him why... he said he knew he would stay there but he told me, 'keep that flat till you retire as a judge... so you know that if your moral integrity is to be compromised. you will always have a roof over your head'."
Reflecting on his career, he described the role of judges as akin to pilgrims, coming to court each day with a commitment to serve. "The work we do can make or break cases," he said. He paid tribute to the "great judges who have adorned this court and passed on the baton," adding that he felt reassured leaving the bench in the capable hands of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, whom he praised as an able leader.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who has been nominated as his successor and will be sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on November 11, said, "I never had the chance to appear in Justice Chandrachud's court, but what he has done for the marginalised and the needy is beyond compare."
