During his Supreme Court service, he had been on the highest number of constitutional benches (five judges or more) constituted to hear matters on constitutional questions. During his tenure at the Supreme Court, he had delivered judgments on Indian constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, human rights, gender justice,
public interest litigations,
commercial law and
criminal law.
Right to Privacy Among his notable judgments is his lead opinion in the
Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. vs Union Of India And Ors. case as part of a unanimous nine-judge bench decision of the Indian Supreme Court, which affirmed that the right to privacy is a constitutionally guaranteed right. Chandrachud grounded the right to privacy in dignity, liberty, autonomy, bodily and mental integrity, self-determination and across a spectrum of protected rights. Writing for himself and three other judges, he stated:Dignity cannot exist without privacy. Both reside within the inalienable values of life, liberty and freedom which the Constitution has recognized. Privacy is the ultimate expression of the sanctity of the individual. It is a constitutional value which straddles across the spectrum of fundamental rights and protects for the individual a zone of choice and self-determination. In 2013, a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India in the
Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation case upheld
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalized homosexuality. Chandrachud referred to the decision as striking "a discordant note which directly bears upon the evolution of the constitutional jurisprudence on the right to privacy." in the judgment of the Supreme Court declaring Section 377 of the
Indian Penal Code unconstitutional. He is also known for expressly overruling the
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (
habeas corpus) case in which the lead opinion was written by his father, the former chief justice of India
Y. V. Chandrachud.
Free speech Terming dissent as "the safety valve of democracy", he has authored judgments upholding the right to the freedom of speech in numerous cases. In Indibility Creative Pvt Ltd v State of West Bengal, he authored a judgment which imposed a fine on the
State of West Bengal and granted remedial compensation for disallowing the screening of the political satire
Bhobishyoter Bhoot through extra-constitutional measures. The Court had, by an interim order, directed that there must be no bar on the screening of the movie. In the final judgment, Chandrachud held that even if there was any apprehension of public discontent, police protection must be provided instead of prohibiting the display of the movie. The judgment is noteworthy for its recognition of the positive duty on the State to protect the freedom of speech and expression. He held that:Free speech cannot be gagged for fear of the mob…Political freedoms impose a restraining influence on the state by carving out an area in which the state shall not interfere. Hence, these freedoms are perceived to impose obligations of restraint on the state. But, apart from imposing 'negative' restraints on the state these freedoms impose a positive mandate as well. In its capacity as a public authority enforcing the rule of law, the state must ensure that conditions in which these freedoms flourish are maintained. In the space reserved for the free exercise of speech and expression, the state cannot look askance when organised interests threaten the existence of freedom. The state is duty bound to ensure the prevalence of conditions in which of those freedoms can be exercised. The instruments of the state must be utilised to effectuate the exercise of freedom.The judgment was reported for preventing the censorship of free speech and limiting its exceptions strictly to the grounds mentioned in Article 19(2) of the Constitution. In another occasion, he has ruled against freedom of expression in the UPSC Jihad case, "Your client is doing a disservice to the nation and is not accepting India is a melting point of diverse cultures. Your client needs to exercise his freedom with caution". In the
Romila Thapar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors case, Chandrachud dissented with the majority which refused to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe the case concerning the arrest of five activists in connection with the
2018 Bhima Koregaon violence and held that in light of the particular circumstances of the case, the constitution of a Special Investigation Team was necessary to ensure a fair and impartial investigation. In the
Chief Election Commissioner of India v. M.R. Vijayabhaskar case, Chandrachud upheld the freedom of speech and expression of the media in reporting court proceedings. In this case, the
Election Commission of India sought to restrain the media from reporting the oral observations of judges. The plea came in the context of media reports on the observations of judges of the
Madras High Court stating that the Election Commission was responsible for the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country for allowing political parties to hold massive rallies without adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. Dismissing the plea, the Supreme Court held that the plea by the Election Commission "strikes at the two fundamental principles guaranteed under the Constitution – open court proceedings; and the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression." The Court also recognised that reporting of judicial proceedings on social media is an extension of freedom of speech and expression that the media possesses. In the
suo motu writ petition dealing with the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chandrachud criticised certain State Governments for clamping down on free speech of citizens when they sought help for resources online. During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Indians resorted to social media websites to source medical aid - procure oxygen, essential drugs or locate a hospital bed. State Governments in a bid to control the information on the abysmal state of healthcare system in their territories started registering police complaints against persons for posting pleas of help by stating that these were fake and were a bid to create panic and diminish the national image. Coming down harshly against such tactics in open court, Chandrachud remarked that there could be no clampdown on free flow of information, especially during a humanitarian crisis. The Supreme Court's order directed all
Director Generals of Police to note that any such direct or indirect threats of prosecution or arrest against persons who air their grievances will amount to a contempt of court and invite penal action.
Personal liberty Chandrachud authored the judgment which granted bail to
Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of
Republic TV, who had been arrested by the
Mumbai Police in connection with the suicide of an individual and his mother, who claimed Goswami had not paid him money owed for certain contract work. In his judgment, Chandrachud noted that the High Court of Bombay had failed to
prima facie evaluate whether a case of abetment of suicide was made against Goswami. Finding that
prima facie no such offence was made out from the facts of the matter, the Supreme Court held that he would be entitled to bail. In an important section on "Human liberty and the role of Court", Chandrachud noted that it was important to ensure that criminal law did not become a tool for selective harassment of citizens. Underscoring the importance of bail, the Court held: "More than four decades ago, in a celebrated judgment in State of Rajasthan, Jaipur vs Balchand, Justice Krishna Iyer pithily reminded us that the basic rule of our criminal justice system is "bail, not jail'. The High Courts and Courts in the district judiciary of India must enforce this principle in practice, and not forego that duty, leaving this Court to intervene at all times. We must in particular also emphasise the role of the district judiciary, which provides the first point of interface to the citizen. Our district judiciary is wrongly referred to as the 'subordinate judiciary'. It may be subordinate in hierarchy, but it is not subordinate in terms of its importance in the lives of citizens or in terms of the duty to render justice to them. High Courts get burdened when courts of first instance decline to grant anticipatory bail or bail in deserving cases. This continues in the Supreme Court as well, when High Courts do not grant bail or anticipatory bail in cases falling within the parameters of the law. The consequence for those who suffer incarceration are serious. Common citizens without the means or resources to move the High Courts or this Court languish as undertrials. Courts must be alive to the situation as it prevails on the ground – in the jails and police stations where human dignity has no protector. As judges, we would do well to remind ourselves that it is through the instrumentality of bail that our criminal justice system's primordial interest in preserving the presumption of innocence finds its most eloquent expression. The remedy of bail is the ―solemn expression of the humaneness of the justice system. Tasked as we are with the primary responsibility of preserving the liberty of all citizens, we cannot countenance an approach that has the consequence of applying this basic rule in an inverted form. We have given expression to our anguish in a case where a citizen has approached this court. We have done so in order to reiterate principles which must govern countless other faces whose voices should not go unheard." Further, the judgment, using publicly available data on the National Judicial Data Grid, also highlighted the number of pending bail applications throughout the country and directed the High Courts and lower Courts to use all tools at their disposal, including technology, to ensure that these applications are disposed off swiftly. In another case of
Rahna Jalal v. State of Kerala, Chandrachud dealt with the question of whether anticipatory bail can be granted to a person (Muslim man) accused of the offence of pronouncement of
triple talaq to his wife, punishable under Section 4 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019. Section 7(c) of the said Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in the
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, no person accused of this offence would be granted bail, unless the
Magistrate has heard the Muslim woman and is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail to the accused. The
State of Kerala argued that the non-obstante clause in Section 7(c) barred the courts from exercising their powers under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to grant anticipatory bail. Rejecting this argument, Chandrachud observed that the right to personal liberty and the grant of bail is a recognition of presumption of innocence where a trial is yet to take place. Given the value of personal liberty, in the absence of an express bar by the Legislature making the provisions of Section 438 inapplicable, no such bar can be presumed. It was further reiterated that a statutory exclusion of the right to access remedies for bail is to be construed strictly.
Gender justice Sabarimala Chandrachud has authored several judgments on gender justice that call for a 'change in mindsets' as well as affirm the equal entitlements of women under the Constitution. In the Indian Young Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala case, he authored a concurring judgment holding that the practice of prohibiting women of menstruating age from entering the
Sabarimala temple was discriminatory and violated the fundamental rights of women. In his judgment, he highlighted that "the individual right to the freedom of religion was not intended to prevail over but was subject to the overriding constitutional postulates of equality, liberty and personal freedoms recognised in the other provisions of Part III." for recognising that denying entry into temples to women on the basis of physiology amounted to a constitutionally prohibited practice of untouchability under Article 17. He stated that "the
social exclusion of women, based on menstrual status, is a form of untouchability, which is contrary to constitutional values. Notions of 'purity' and 'pollution', which stigmatise individuals, have no place in a constitutional order." a five-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court, while hearing a review petition against the judgment in November 2019, decided to refer the matter to a larger bench. Chandrachud and Nariman (who were both part of the original bench that passed the majority judgment) dissented and held that the parameters for the exercise of the review jurisdiction of the Court had not been met.
Adultery In the Joseph Shine v Union of India case he authored a concurring judgment declaring the provision of the Indian Penal Code which concerned the
adultery law in India unconstitutional. Emphasising the constitutional commitment to equality and dignity, he held that:The creation of a just, egalitarian society is a process. It often involves the questioning and obliteration of parochial social mores which are antithetical to constitutional morality…The ability to make choices within marriage and on every aspect concerning it is a facet of human liberty and dignity which the Constitution protects… Implicit in seeking to privilege the fidelity of women in a marriage, is the assumption that a woman contracts away her sexual agency when entering a marriage. That a woman, by marriage, consents in advance to sexual relations with her husband or to refrain from sexual relations outside marriage without the permission of her husband is offensive to liberty and dignity. Such a notion has no place in the constitutional order. Sexual autonomy constitutes an inviolable core of the dignity of every individual. He held that:…. in adjudicating on the rights of women, the Court is not taking on a paternalistic role and "granting" rights. The Court is merely interpreting the text of the Constitution to re-state what is already set in ink — women are equal citizens of this nation, entitled to the protections of the Constitution. Any legislation which results in the denial of these Constitutional guarantees to women, cannot pass the test of Constitutionality. that the above observations have a significant bearing on the law employed for the
restitution of conjugal rights as well as the exception carved out in law from criminalising
marital rape. This case was the second case where Chandrachud overruled a decision of his father, former Chief Justice of India
Y. V. Chandrachud.
Armed forces Army In 2020, he authored two decisions in the realm of gender justice and the armed forces of the country. In the Secretary, Ministry of Defence v Babita Puniya case he directed the government to consider all woman officers in the Army appointed on
Short Service Commissions for the grant of Permanent Commissions on an equal basis with their male counterparts. The
Union Government had contended that "women are not employed on duties which are hazardous in nature unlike their male counterparts in the same Arm/Service." as well as in national media as a "landmark verdict ending gender bias" which is "against deeply embedded patriarchal mindsets and strong institutional biases." At the International Judicial Conference hosted by India on the 'Judiciary and the Changing World', which saw the participation of Chief Justices and judges from over 23 countries, the President of India welcomed the judgment and commended it for its "progressive social transformation" In 2021, the women who received the benefit of the
Babita Puniya ruling contended that the Union Government applied a facially neural standard for their belated assessment for Permanent Commission, on medical standards that were applicable to men when they were 25–30 years old and by discounting their subsequent achievements. In granting relief to these women, he elaborated on the doctrine of systemic discrimination and indirect discrimination as a relevant framework for assessing claims of discrimination and structuring remedies. He noted: "Indirect discrimination is caused by facially neutral criteria by not taking into consideration the underlying effects of a provision, practice or a criterion….. Exclusive reliance on tools of direct or indirect discrimination may also not effectively account for patterns arising out of multiple axles of discrimination. Therefore, a systemic view of discrimination, in perceiving discriminatory disadvantage as a continuum, would account for not just unjust action but also inaction. Structures, in the form of organisations or otherwise, would be probed for the systems or cultures they produce that influence day-to-day interaction and decision making" The judgement was hailed internationally, nationally and by scholars for broadening the horizons of Indian jurisprudence on Article 14 and 15(1) of the
Indian Constitution.
Navy A short while after the
Babita Puniya ruling, he authored the judgment in the Union of India v Ld. Cdr. Annie Nagaraja case wherein the Court directed a similar relief to be granted to women sailors in the
Indian Navy. The Court noted the submission of the Union Government that "certain avenues such as sea-sailing duties are ill-suited for women officers as there is no return to the base" and that "Navy ships of today are not structured nor have the infrastructure to accommodate women sailors alongside men sailors" and rejected these submissions as "illusory and without any foundation". and was widely reported upon in national media.
Sexual harassment at the workplace Recently, he authored a judgment which affirmed that sexual harassment at the workplace violates the fundamental rights of women guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. The verdict was based on a complaint made by a senior officer of the
Punjab and Sind Bank that she was transferred out from
Indore to
Jabalpur because she had complained about irregularities and corruption. The woman, a chief manager and Scale IV officer, said she was also allegedly sexually harassed by her senior officer. He held that:Sexual harassment at the workplace is an affront to the fundamental rights of a woman to equality under Articles 14 and 15 and her right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution as well as her right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business… There can be no manner of doubt that the respondent (woman officer) has been victimised. This is symptomatic of a carrot and sticks policy adopted to suborn the dignity of a woman who is aggrieved by unfair treatment at her workplace. The law cannot countenance this. The order of transfer was an act of unfair treatment and is vitiated by malafides.He directed the bank to send the woman employee back to the Indore branch and held that the bank may pass any other order only after she has completed a tenure of one year at the Indore branch.
Intersectional violence On 27 April 2021, he authored a judgement which considered caste and the disability of the woman as a relevant factor in sentencing of the accused for the offence of rape. The judgement further held that a true reading of the
SC & ST Act, 1989 shows that it will be attracted to a criminal offence as long as caste identity is one of the grounds for the occurrence of the offence. This was an important intervention since certain earlier Supreme Court cases had held that a SC & ST Act charge would only be attracted if the crime was committed solely on the ground that the victim belonged to the
Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community. Chandrachud undertook an
intersectional analysis to examine how gender violence can be a result of combination of various oppressions and observed that, "[w]hen the identity of a woman intersects with,
inter alia, her caste, class, religion, disability and sexual orientation, she may face violence and discrimination due to two or more grounds. Trans women may face violence on account of their heterodox gender identity. In such a situation, it becomes imperative to use an intersectional lens to evaluate how multiple sources of oppression operate cumulatively to produce a specific experience of subordination for a blind Scheduled Caste woman." He further criticised single axis legislations which focus on oppression on account of a singular source, be it caste, gender or disability, noting that they make invisible the experiences of minorities within these broader groups who suffer on account of multiple oppressions. Further, he also noted that such legislations impose an unrealistic evidentiary burden on individuals who are at the intersection of various marginalised identities since "evidence of discrete discrimination or violence on a specific ground may be absent or difficult to prove". He noted that the 2015 amendment to the SC & ST Act, which changed the evidentiary requirement of proving that the crime was committed on the basis of the caste identity to a standard where knowledge of the caste identity was sufficient to sustain a conviction, was a positive development and enabled an intersectional analysis of caste violence. Another significant aspect of this judgement was the holding of the Court that testimony of a disabled witness cannot be considered weaker or inferior to their able-bodied counterparts. Chandrachud also issued certain guidelines to make the criminal justice system more disabled-friendly.
Environment One of Chandrachud's significant opinions in the sphere of
environmental law is his judgment in the Hanuman Laxman Aroskar vs Union of India case. A challenge was brought before the Supreme Court against the order of the
National Green Tribunal upholding the grant of an Environmental Clearance to a proposed greenfield
international airport at
Mopa in Goa. A myriad of contentions were urged by the appellants questioning the grant of the clearance, which included the failure to make disclosures on forests and Ecologically Sensitive Zones as well as a faulty appraisal process and the use of erroneous sampling points. The Court observed the numerous deficiencies in the process leading to the grant of the clearance and directed that a rapid EIA be conducted afresh by the project proponent. The Court highlighted that compliance with the core governing notification is mandatory in the following terms:The 2006 notification represents an independent code with the avowed objective of balancing the development agenda with the protection of the environment. An applicant cannot claim an EC, under the 2006 notification, based on substantial or proportionate compliance with the terms stipulated in the notification. The terms of the notification lay down strict standards that must be complied with by an applicant seeking an EC for a proposed project. The burden of establishing environmental compliance rests on a project proponent who intends to bring about a change in the existing state of the environment… There can be no gambles with the environment: a 'heads I win, tails you lose' approach is simply unacceptable; unacceptable if we are to preserve environmental governance under the rule of law. The judgment was also welcomed by the
United Nations Environment Program. In a separate section titled the 'Environmental Rule of Law', the Court drew from vast literature he authored a judgment directing the appellant to conduct a rapid EIA as a result of the numerous deficiencies in the process leading up to the grant of Environmental Clearance. The Court noted the "patent contradiction" in disclosing the existence of forest land to be diverted for the project connecting
Tumkur Road to
Hosur Road. In a section titled 'Courts and the Environment', he highlighted the importance of a broad-based approach to the protection of the environment in the following terms:The protection of the environment is premised not only on the active role of courts, but also on robust institutional frameworks within which every stakeholder complies with its duty to ensure sustainable development. A framework of environmental governance committed to the rule of law requires a regime which has effective, accountable and transparent institutions. Equally important is responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision making. Environmental governance is founded on the rule of law and emerges from the values of our Constitution. Where the health of the environment is key to preserving the right to life as a constitutionally recognised value under Article 21 of the Constitution, proper structures for environmental decision making find expression in the guarantee against arbitrary action and the affirmative duty of fair treatment under Article 14 of the Constitution. The erstwhile
Ministry of Environment and Forests had issued an administrative circular in 2002 envisaging the grant of
ex post facto clearances to those industries that had failed to comply with the mandatory EIA notification of 1994. The ex post facto clearances granted to a group of drug and pharmaceutical companies located in Gujarat were challenged. Chandrachud set aside the administrative circular of 2002 and noted that the concept of
ex post facto ECs derogates from the fundamental principles of the environmental rule of law. He noted that the grant of
ex post facto ECs was contrary to both the precautionary principle as well as the principal of sustainable development. Chandrachud noted that all the industries in question had made significant infrastructural investments. In this backdrop, he imposed a fine of Rs 10 crores each for the purpose of restitution and restoration of the environment. He held:Requirements such as conducting a public hearing, screening, scoping and appraisal are components of the decision-making process which ensure that the likely impacts of the industrial activity or the expansion of an existing industrial activity are considered in the decision-making calculus. Allowing for an ex post facto clearance would essentially condone the operation of industrial activities without the grant of an EC. In the absence of an EC, there would be no conditions that would safeguard the environment. Moreover, if the EC was to be ultimately refused, irreparable harm would have been caused to the environment. In either view of the matter, environment law cannot countenance the notion of an ex post facto clearance. This would be contrary to both the precautionary principle as well as the need for sustainable development. The construction of the structure had been in dispute for nearly 14 years, before it was finally resolved through this judgment. Developing on the concept of environmental rule of law propounded by him in the Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v Union of India case, he discussed how actual implementation may suffer from lack of access to scientific data to ascertain concrete harm. However, he held: "The environmental rule of law calls on us, as judges, to marshal the knowledge emerging from the record, limited though it may sometimes be, to respond in a stern and decisive fashion to violations of environmental law. We cannot be stupefied into inaction by not having access to complete details about the manner in which an environmental law violation has occurred or its full implications. Instead, the framework, acknowledging the imperfect world that we inhabit, provides a roadmap to deal with environmental law violations, an absence of clear evidence of consequences notwithstanding."
Labour In the wake of the pandemic, Chandrachud judicially reviewed a decision of the
State of Gujarat to suspend some provisions of overtime pay, work intervals, working hours and other labour protections by resorting to Section 5 of the Factories Act, 1948 by terming it an 'emergency therein'. In tightly interpreting the scope of Section 5, which envisaged suspension of protections only when the 'public emergency threatens the security of the state', Chandrachud warned against "rendering hard-won protections of the Factories Act, 1948 illusory and the constitutional promise of social and economic democracy into paper-tigers." In addition to its contribution on
labour jurisprudence and the interpretation of
directive principles of state policy, the judgement was also hailed for critically examining executive actions, which were otherwise given a wide leeway during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Constitutional judgments on governance Ordinances Chandrachud was a part of the seven-judge bench in the Krishna Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar case, which concerned the re-promulgation of ordinances. The enduring rights theory, according to which the rights and liabilities accrued by virtue of an ordinance were said to have an enduring effect even after the expiration of the ordinance was held bad in law. Chandrachud writing for the majority held that the rights and liabilities accrued during the force of the ordinance would continue to exist even after the expiration of the ordinance only in public interest or on the basis of constitutional necessity and that 'irreversibility' and 'impracticability' are the yardsticks to determine what constitutes 'public interest'. in which the nature of power of the
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi vis-à-vis the
Government of Delhi was decided. The majority unanimously observed that the Chief Minister, not the Lieutenant Governor, is the executive head of the territory and that the Lieutenant Governor had no independent decision-making power, save and except as provided by the Constitution in exceptional situations. It was observed that he had to follow the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except when the matter was related to police, public order and land. It was also held that by virtue of Article 239AA(4) of the Indian Constitution, the Lieutenant Governor could, in the case of any disagreement between the Delhi Government and the Lieutenant Governor, refer 'exceptional' matters to the President seeking his opinion. In such cases, the decision of the President would be final. Chandrachud's concurring opinion which was commented upon for its clarity and nuance, held that an 'exceptional matter' is one in which "the Government of the NCT is likely to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union Government". Chandrachud emphasised on the obligation of the Lieutenant Governor to abide by the aid and advice of the Delhi Government and observed that the interpretation that aids the basic features of representative governance and the cabinet form of government should be adopted. He held:…in defining the ambit of the constitutional powers entrusted to the Council of Ministers for the NCT and their relationship with Lieutenant Governor as a delegate of the President, the Court cannot be unmindful of the constitutional importance which has to be assigned to representative government. Representative government is a hallmark of a Constitution which is wedded to democracy for it is through a democratic form of governance that the aspirations of those who elect their representatives are met.
Floor test for elections Chandrachud authored a judgment with far reaching consequences in the political sphere in the
Shivraj Singh Chouhan v. Speaker,
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly case. Chandrachud held that the Governor's exercise of power to convene the legislative assembly for a floor test during an ongoing session of the assembly was "legitimate to the purpose of ensuring that the norm of collective responsibility is duly preserved". He accepted the submission that the Governor commands the power to order a floor test if the Governor has – based on "objective material" – reasons to believe that the government has lost its majority. Significantly, he noted that the power of the Governor is not unbridled in the following terms:Where the exercise of the discretion by the Governor to call a floor test is challenged before the court, it is not immune from judicial review. The court is entitled to determine whether in calling for the floor test, the Governor did so on the basis of objective material and reasons which were relevant and germane to the exercise of the power. The exercise of such a power is not intended to destabilise or displace a democratically elected government accountable to the legislative assembly and collectively responsible to it. While the
High Court of Jharkhand had struck down the notification based on the doctrine of promissory
estoppel, Supreme Court's judgment, through an analysis of English and Indian law, clarified that its basis would instead be the doctrine of
legitimate expectation. The Court held that the doctrine of legitimate expectations was one of the ways in which the guarantee of non-arbitrariness enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution of India finds concrete expression. In striking down the notification, Chandrachud came down harshly on the lethargic attitude of the State of Jharkhand in belatedly issuing the notification and held: "It is one thing for the State to assert that the writ petitioner had no vested right but quite another for the State to assert that it is not duty bound to disclose its reasons for not giving effect to the exemption notification within the period that was envisaged in the Industrial Policy 2012. Both the accountability of the State and the solemn obligation which it undertook in terms of the policy document militate against accepting such a notion of state power. The state must discard the colonial notion that it is a sovereign handing out doles at its will. Its policies give rise to legitimate expectations that the state will act according to what it puts forth in the public realm. In all its actions, the State is bound to act fairly, in a transparent manner. This is an elementary requirement of the guarantee against arbitrary state action which Article 14 of the Constitution adopts. A deprivation of the entitlement of private citizens and private business must be proportional to a requirement grounded in public interest."
COVID- 19: In Re: Distribution of essential supplies and services during pandemic During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India in April 2021, a bench of the Supreme Court of India headed by then–Chief Justice
SA Bobde, Justice
LN Rao and Justice
S Ravindra Bhat, took
suo motu cognisance of the situation in the country to deal with issues pertaining to the availability of oxygen supply, essential drugs and modalities for vaccination. After the retirement of Chief Justice Bobde on 23 April 2021, the bench composition was altered with Chandrachud replacing Chief Justice Bobde. The Supreme Court bench led by Chandrachud highlighted that the exercise of its
suo motu jurisdiction was to discharge its constitutional duty as protector of the fundamental rights during a pandemic, along with the High Courts and not in usurpation of their jurisdiction. Additionally, the bench adopted a bounded-deliberative approach to facilitate dialogue between the Union Government, various State Governments and the relevant stakeholders in order to assess the policy of the Union Government on the touchstone of Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution of India. Through a series of directions, the Supreme Court directed the Union Government to formulate a national hospital admission policy to ensure no person is denied medical aid on grounds of non-residency in a particular State and raised concerns regarding the augmentation of medical oxygen available and steps taken by the Government. Pertinently, the Supreme Court had made critical observations on the Liberalised Vaccination Policy of the Government of India and noted that the vaccination policy of free vaccination for persons above the age of 45 and paid vaccination for persons between 18 and 44 years was
prima facie arbitrary and irrational. The court also sought justification for the decentralised procurement leaving the State Governments to approach global vaccine producers, instead of the Union of India acting collectively; concerns regarding augmentation of vaccine production, issues relating to the modality of vaccination through the use of a digital platform,
CoWIN given the digital divide in urban and rural India. In light of these issues, the Union Government was directed to provide justifications or revise its policy. A week after the Supreme court order, the
Narendra Modi led Government revised its vaccination policy, centralising its procurement and providing free vaccination to all adults, including between ages 18–44 years. It is widely believed that the change in the vaccination policy was a result of the continuous engagement of the Supreme Court with the Government and its scathing remarks against the Government's vaccination policy.
Affirmative action Chandrachud has authored numerous judgments on
affirmative action in India. Foremost amongst these is his judgment in the B.K. Pavitra II v. Union of India case, where he upheld the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (to the Posts in the Civil Services of the State) Act 2018. The Act concerned the grant of consequential seniority to candidates appointed on the basis of reservation. The judgment was recognised for undertaking a critical and nuanced analysis that weighs towards an inclusive definition of 'efficiency' and consequently 'merit', - one that is consistent with the principle of substantive equality, as opposed to formal equality. Chandrachud affirmed the principle that a person who receives the benefit of public employment on the basis of a false caste certificate is not entitled to protection in exercise of the equitable power conferred upon Courts. Chandrachud held that the "withdrawal of civil benefits flowed as a logical result of the validation of a claim to belong to a group or category for whom the reservation is intended" and that "the selection of ineligible persons is a manifestation of a systematic failure and has deleterious effects on good governance." Observing that the governing state legislation explicitly specified the consequences of relying upon a false caste certificate, the Court held that recourse to the inherent powers of the Supreme Court under Article 142 would not be justified. In the same vein, Chandrachud observed that where there was a statutory bar to conferring benefits on the basis of a false certificate, administrative circulars and government resolutions, being subservient to legislative mandate, would not be permitted to cure the defect of a false caste certificate.
Disability rights In the Vikash Kumar v. Union Public Service Commission case, Chandrachud elaborated on the concept of reasonable accommodation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. In the case, an appellant, who was a civil servant aspirant, suffered from writer's cramp. His application for writing the exam with the assistance of a scribe was rejected by the
UPSC as he did not have a benchmark disability under the Act. Chandrachud while allowing the petition held that the concept of reasonable accommodation is at the heart of the Act. It is a positive obligation of the State and private parties to provide additional support to persons with disabilities to ensure their participation in the society. He further held that disability is a social construct which has to be remedied by ensuring conditions that facilitate development of the disabled and must meet the needs of every individual disabled person. Chandrachud also stressed on the intersectional nature of disability based discrimination. In doing so, he held that a previous decision of the Supreme Court in the V. Surendra Mohan v. Tamil Nadu case, where the Court refused to allow a visually disabled person from becoming a judicial officer, did not incorporate the principle of reasonable accommodation as it was rendered under the old Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 and would no longer be a binding precedent.
Commercial law Chandrachud has also authored opinions in several commercial disputes and emphasised the principles of certainty and objectivity in the area of commercial law. He rejected the challenge by Adani Gas Limited to the grant of authorisation for the construction and operation of consumer gas distribution networks in the state of
Tamil Nadu. The dispute concerned the alleged addition of certain bidding criteria
after the last date for bidding. In upholding the decisions taken by the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Chandrachud noted that the additional criteria had only been proposed by the regulator as an agenda item, but was never subsequently adopted. He also observed that when a tender is challenged by a bidder, the dispute remains solely between the bidder and the regulator, and the regulator's treatment of other bids that have no bearing on the disputed bid cannot be used to allege a case of arbitrariness against the regulator's actions. Chandrachud also authored a judgment governing the liquidation of Super Bazar. The once-iconic
Co-Operative Society had fallen on hard times and Writers and Publishers had won the bid to revive Super Bazar under a court regulated recovery scheme. However, an audit by the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India found several accounting irregularities in the management of Super Bazar by Writers and Publishers. Chandrachud's judgment held that it would be against the first principles of insolvency if a resolution applicant were to be refunded their investment after a failed revival effort. His opinion directed that Super Bazar's assets be handed over to the official liquidator and disposed of in accordance with the statutory order of preferences.
Insurance law Chandrachud has authored opinions regarding the interpretation of insurance contracts. In one such decision, a claim was filed by the wife of the deceased who while riding his motorcycle, experienced pain in the chest and shoulder, suffered a heart attack and fell from the motorcycle. Chandrachud discussed extensively the jurisprudence on insurance law in various jurisdictions, dealt with the interpretation of the expressions 'accident', 'bodily injury' and 'outward, violent and visible means'. He rejected the claim noting that there is no evidence to show that any bodily injuries were suffered due to the fall from the motorcycle or that it led to the assured suffering a heart attack. Chandrachud relied on the doctrine of
uberrimae fidei and held that any suppression, untruth or inaccuracy in the statement in the proposal form by the insured is a breach of the duty of good faith and will render the policy voidable by the insurer. Chandrachud noted that the system of adequate disclosures helps to narrow down the gap of information asymmetries between the parties and helps the insurers to assess their risk appetite. He held:Proposal forms are a significant part of the disclosure procedure and warrant accuracy of statements. Utmost care must be exercised in filling the proposal form. In a proposal form the applicant declares that she/he warrants truth. The contractual duty so imposed is such that any suppression, untruth or inaccuracy in the statement in the proposal form will be considered as a breach of the duty of good faith and will render the policy voidable by the insurer. The system of adequate disclosure helps buyers and sellers of insurance policies to meet at a common point and narrow down the gap of information asymmetriesIn a judgment reported in national media, Chandrachud dealt with the question of whether a death caused due to malaria occasioned by a mosquito bite constituted a 'death due to accident' covered under the terms of an insurance policy. He rejected the contention that being bitten by a mosquito is an unforeseen eventuality and should be regarded as an accident. Chandrachud noted the distinction between the occurrence of a disease which may be considered as an accident and a disease which occurs in the natural course of events. He referred to the
World Health Organization's World Malaria Report 2018 and noted that in a country severely afflicted with malaria, the mosquito bite was neither unexpected nor unforeseen and therefore, death caused by a mosquito bite would not be covered by the insurance policy.
Insolvency law Chandrachud has recently authored key judgments in relation to the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. In the Phoenix Arc Private Limited v. Spade Financial Services Limited case, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether entities who may have been related parties of a corporate debtor at the time of acquiring of a financial debt, but are no longer related parties, can be excluded from the Committee of Creditors. In taking a purposive approach to the issue, Chandrachud looked at the objects of the Insolvency Code and highlighted the importance of checking on actions where the "related party financial creditor devises mechanism to remove its label of a 'related party' before the Corporate Debtor undergoes CIRP, so as to be able to enter the CoC and influence its decision making at the cost of other financial creditors." Further, Chandrachud also held that "collusive transactions" between two parties would not give rise to "financial debt" for the purposes of Insolvency Code, since the nature of transaction needs to be ascertained to ensure that parties do not collude to the detriment to legitimate creditors. In the Ramesh Kymal v. M/S. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power Private Limited case, Justice Chandrachud clarified that the ordinance suspending applications under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process after 25 March 2020, in accordance with Section 10A of the Insolvency Code, which had been introduced on 5 June 2020, would also affect any pending application that had been filed after 25 March 2020, since that was consciously the cut-off date chosen by the Parliament. Chandrachud delivered a significant judgment in the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited v. Amit Gupta case, where the termination of a
Power Purchase Agreement with the corporate debtor, solely on account of its insolvency, was under challenge. The judgment clarified the jurisdiction of the
National Company Law Tribunal and
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal by holding that their jurisdiction is limited to adjudicating disputes which arise solely from or which relate to the insolvency of the Corporate Debtor. It also analysed the validity of
ipso facto clauses in contracts, which allow termination solely on a party entering insolvency proceedings, across international materials and other jurisdictions. Noting that the validity of such clauses was unclear in India, the judgment resorted to dialogical remedy to direct the Parliament to provide legislative guidance. In the present case, however, the Supreme Court noted that the Power Purchase Agreement was the sole contract of the corporate debtor and held: "Given that the terms used in Section 60(5)(c) are of wide import, as recognised in a consistent line of authority, we hold that the NCLT was empowered to restrain the appellant from terminating the PPA. However, our decision is premised upon a recognition of the centrality of the PPA in the present case to the success of the CIRP, in the factual matrix of this case, since it is the sole contract for the sale of electricity which was entered into by the Corporate Debtor. In doing so, we reiterate that the NCLT would have been empowered to set aside the termination of the PPA in this case because the termination took place solely on the ground of insolvency. The jurisdiction of the NCLT under Section 60(5)(c) of the IBC cannot be invoked in matters where a termination may take place on grounds unrelated to the insolvency of the corporate debtor. Even more crucially, it cannot even be invoked in the event of a legitimate termination of a contract based on an ipso facto clause like Article 9.2.1(e) herein, if such termination will not have the effect of making certain the death of the corporate debtor. As such, in all future cases, NCLT would have to be wary of setting aside valid contractual terminations which would merely dilute the value of the corporate debtor, and not push it to its corporate death by virtue of it being the corporate debtor's sole contract (as was the case in this matter's unique factual matrix)." In the Arun Kumar Jagatramka v. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. case, Chandrachud barred back-door entry under the
Companies Act, 2013 to a promoter of a corporate debtor who is barred from submitting a resolution plan under the Insolvency Code, to submit a scheme of arrangement under the Companies Ac, 2013. The Supreme Court, while noting that promoters ineligible under the Insolvency Code cannot be allowed a back-door entry through the Companies Act, 2013, held that "[p]roposing a scheme of compromise or arrangement under Section 230 of the Act of 2013, while the company is undergoing liquidation under the provisions of the IBC lies in a similar continuum. Thus, the prohibitions that apply in the former situations must naturally also attach to the latter to ensure that like situations are treated equally." The judgment was hailed for clarifying the inconsistencies in legal position caused by varying decisions of the National Company Law Tribunals. Through the judgment, the Supreme Court also upheld the constitutional validity of Regulation 2B of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016, which provides that a party ineligible to propose a resolution plan under the Insolvency Code cannot be a party to a compromise or arrangement. The judgment was also considered of particular importance, since the Supreme Court noted that scheme and arrangements in the Corporate Insolvency Resolution were introduced only through the judicial intervention of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, and cautioned them to keep such an intervention to a minimum so as to not destroy the sanctity of the Insolvency Code.
Others Chandrachud has also authored judgments on access to justice and the commitment to a transparent judicial system. In the Swapnil Tripathi v. Supreme Court of India case, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that proceedings of cases before it of constitutional and national importance must be streamed to the public. The judgment emphasised the right to know of every citizen and the principle of accountability of every institution. In his concurring opinion, Chandrachud emphasised the principles of open court and open justice and the public's right to know and drew upon comparative jurisprudence from across national frontiers. He stated that:Live-streaming of proceedings is crucial to the dissemination of knowledge about judicial proceedings and granting full access to justice to the litigant… Live- streaming is a significant instrument of establishing the accountability of other stake - holders in the justice process, including the Bar… Full dissemination of knowledge and information about court proceedings through live-streaming thus sub serves diverse interests of stake holders and of society in the proper administration of justice. and academicians alike. In 2021, as the chair-person of the eCommittee of the Supreme Court, Chandrachud has released a draft proposal for introducing live-streaming of court proceedings. Chandrachud also delivered a concurring opinion in the case of the Central Public Information Officer v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal where he agreed with the majority that the office of the chief justice of India is a public authority and falls within the ambit of the
Right to Information Act 2005. Chandrachud's opinion was widely discussed for evolving jurisprudence around the balancing of the right to privacy and the public interest. His opinion was also commented upon for expanding the ambit of the phrase 'public interest' to include information 'on the adequate performance of public authorities' which includes 'information on the selection of judges to the higher judiciary which must be placed in the public realm'. While the majority and the other concurring opinion applied the proportionality test to balance the right to privacy and public interest, Chandrachud expanded the application of the proportionality test to balance the rights of privacy and information. On 12 August 2022, the
Madhya Pradesh High Court discharged a rape accused of all charges on the ground that there was delay in registering the
FIR. He was a part of the bench of Supreme Court which called the High Court judgement "heart-breaking" and "perverse". == Notable dissents ==