SCBA president and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Friday said that outgoing Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud allowed people to criticise judges and transformed the judicial landscape by allowing online access to court proceedings and addressing complexities that previous chief justices had not tackled.
Mr Sibal was speaking at the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) where he said that Justice Chandrachud expanded equality and that he will be remembered for his judgements, manner, simplicity, affability, and patience, "all attributes of one of the greatest judges of this country".
He said that Chief Justice Chandrachud had to match up to the quality and the achievement of his father, who was a Chief Justice of India for seven years and 14 days, and claimed that he "truly outpaced" him.
"You've given access to millions of people to watch how judges are doing, how they are delivering justice. One day there's going to be a forensic audit. You allowed people to criticise you. What can be braver than that... You've been a pioneer, a torchbearer and a ground-breaking innovator... You'll be remembered for being one of the patient judges," he said.
He said that Chief Justice Chandrachud's tenure was "deeply rich, generative, bringing with it the development of a vast landscape of the law, thereby impacting the future course of the justice delivery system." "Through your judgments, you demonstrated a willingness to chart unknown waters and to reflect that this Chandrachud has perhaps exceeded the legacy of his father, who was the longest-standing CJI of India," Mr Sibal said.
He said that Justice Chandrachud will be remembered on the yardstick of how often he has moved towards perfection, to defend life and liberty, and to serve the cause of equality.
"Ultimately the legacy of any judge is measured as to how he has sought to safeguard the citizen's right, and in that regard, it is beyond any doubt that Chief Justice Chandrachud has rendered some phenomenal judgments," he said.
He noted that in the privacy judgment, Justice Chandrachud tried to grapple with the complexities of today, which are far greater than those of the past.
"Now how do you build a society when the march of technology is so oppressive that it will destroy the very dignity of the individual and the independence of a human being? "These are the challenges we are going to meet, and to the extent to those challenges, you have already tried to grapple with in the judgements you've delivered, take for example the privacy judgment," he said.
Mr Sibal said that Chief Justice Chandrachud was willing to deal with complex issues.
"I dare say that the past CJIs would not allow themselves to deal with those decisions for years -- whether it was Article 370 judgment or same-sex marriage judgment or electoral bonds, or any of those very large issues that actually changed the contours of our being.
"You were willing to take it forward. You were willing to address, and you addressed them with great clarity. We must thank you for all that you have done, and salute you for the fact that were willing, ready to deal with those complexities," Mr Sibal added.
Chief Justice Chandrachud expanded equality by embracing diversity, Mr Sibal said, adding, "You're a trailblazer in this regard, for the kind of protection you granted to disability rights. You were a staunch votary of nothing about us is without us."
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