Breaking: Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Against CJI-Designate Justice D Y Chandrachud

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea filed seeking to restrain Justice D. Y. Chandrachud from taking oath as the Chief Justice of India. 

The Bench of Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Bela M Trivedi said in its order that "having heard learned counsel we see no reason to entertain the petition. The entire petition is misconceived. the petition is hence dismissed".  

The Chief Justice started dictating the order mentioning the two submissions made by the Counsel for the Petitioner. However, the Court stopped mid-way and dictated the order as above. 

"There is likely to be a conflict of interest", Advocate Anand Jondhale submitted at the beginning, suggesting that the Chief Justice should avoid hearing the case. The lawyer then pointed out some orders passed by the Bench of Justice Chandrachud stating that when a Senior Advocate appeared pleading for tagging, it was allowed while the same relief was not granted to a junior Advocate.

The lawyer also submitted that Justice Chandrachud heard a matter where his son had appeared before the Bombay High Court. "This is an admitted fact. In fact, the BCI said that the learned judge was not aware. That can't be the case because the order was annexed", the lawyer said. 

The Bench then asked the lawyer to show from the documents whether the order was in fact annexed to the SLP that Justice Chandrachud heard. The lawyer then said that he has produced a copy of the SLP. 

He also said that if any allegation is found to be false, his client is ready to face prosecution. When the Court asked the lawyer to show whether the order was part of the paper book, the lawyer sought an adjournment stating that he wants time to find out.   

He then submitted that some binding precedents have not been followed by the Judge. "You can't argue such things", the CJI said. He then again sought adjournment for showing that the order was annexed to the SLP, which the Court refused. 

He then said that the Court of Justice Chandrachud had compelled some persons to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

The case was mentioned before the Bench in the morning and the Court had agreed to hear the matter at 12.45 pm. The plea sought to restrain the senior most judge, Justice D Y Chandrachud, from taking oath as the Chief Justice of India on November 9.

"Get the paper books for my brother and sister (Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi). We will list the matter at 12.45 pm today itself," the CJI had said during the mentioning.