There is no greater feeling for a judge than to be able to serve those in need, outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said Friday as he bid goodbye to lawyers in Court Hall 1 of the Supreme Court.
Sharing the ceremonial bench constituted in the outgoing CJI’s honour, Chief Justice Chandrachud said, “It’s been a great honour to be sitting in this court. When I was young, I would come and sit at the end of the last row in this court, watch the greats of the bar argue, and learn so much about how to argue, how to behave in court, court craft, how to apply substantive knowledge of the law.”
Addressing the crowded courtroom, the CJI said, “The one cause in which we are involved in this court is the cause of ultimate justice to the citizens.”
“We are here as pilgrims, birds of passage. We come for a short while, and then we leave. But the work which we do can either make or mar the institution. Of course, none of us is that important that you feel the court is not going to survive without me,” he said.
Justice Chandrachud stepped into the shoes of his illustrious father Y V Chandrachud, who served as the longest CJI between 1978 and 1985, on November 9, 2022, and will be demitting office on November 10, a Sunday.
“You asked me what keeps me going. It is this court which has kept me going, because there is not a single day when you feel that you have not learned something, that you have not had an opportunity to serve the society”, he added.
Chief Justice of India-designate Sanjiv Khanna lauded CJI D Y Chandrachud for his “monumental” contribution, saying he worked on a mission to improve the apex court and pursued his goal of making it “a sanctuary of inclusivity”, which was accessible to all.
At a farewell event for Justice Chandrachud, organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Justice Khanna, in an emotional speech, said He highlighted the qualities of CJI Chandrachud as a scholar and a jurist, embodying calmness in his professional and personal life while pronouncing “monumental” judgments.
“Thirty-eight constitutional bench judgments, including two just pronounced today. This is a record which will remain unbroken,” the CJI-designate said.