Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud discussed several sensitive issues that came up during their tenure in an interview to BBC recently. He expressed his opinion on important matters like independence of the judiciary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ghar Yatra, Ram Mandir decision, Article 370 and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In the interview, he was asked an important question whether dynasty dominates the Indian judiciary, especially the dominance of upper caste Hindu men? On this, he has given his father and former judge YV. Referred to the advice received from Chandrachud.
When asked if the Indian judiciary works under political pressure, he dismissed the charge outright and said that the Supreme Court is committed to protecting personal freedom and that is why people have faith in the judiciary. .
Chandrachud clearly rejected it on the question of the upper caste Hindu men dominated in the judiciary. He said, if you look at the lower level recruitment process of the Indian judiciary, then in many states there are 50 to 70 percent new recruitment judges women. Along with this, he also said that as women are getting access to education, especially law education, this balance will also reach the higher level of the judiciary.
His father YV Referring to Chandrachud, he said that his father had advised him not to go to court as long as he is holding the post of CJI (Chief Justice). So he studied at Harvard Law School and entered the court only after his father retired.
Chandrachud was also asked whether the Modi government had pressured the judiciary? On this, he said that the judiciary in India is completely independent. In the editorial of the New York Times quoted by the BBC, it was claimed that the BJP government is using the judiciary for its political interests, which Chandrachud opposed that if you look at the 2024 general elections, then this perception proved wrong It happens, because regional parties performed well in various states and are running the government independently.
On the issue of maintaining Rahul Gandhi’s sentence by the Gujarat High Court and later suspending it by the Supreme Court, Chandrachud said that if the judiciary was under any pressure, why would the Supreme Court suspend his sentence? He said that last year the Supreme Court settled 21,300 bail petitions, which proves that the judiciary is functioning impartially.
