L Nageswara Rao, DY Chandrachud + 2: New SC judges recommended

Wednesday, 4 May 2016 By Legally India SCOI Reports

DY Chandrachud will make it to the SC at a very tender age...
DY Chandrachud will make it to the SC at a very tender age...

As first reported by LiveLaw and the Deccan Chronicle, the Supreme Court collegium has recommended four names for elevation to the Supreme Court:

DY Chandrachud ([56] of Allahabad high court); AM Khanwilkar (58) of Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur and Ashok Bhushan (60) of Kerala high court and L Nageswara Rao, former Additional Solicitor General and senior advocate.

According to Union Law Ministry sources the names received from collegium will be processed and appointments will be made within a fortnight. Justices Chandrachud and Khanwilkar both belonged to Maharashtra and Justice Bhushan belonged to Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Rao hails from Andhra Pradesh.

collegiumDY ChandrachudAM KhanwilkarAshok BhushanL Nageswara RaoSupreme CourtAllahabad high courtKerala high court

Comments

anan 4 May 2016, 07:40
+1 -0
DY Chandrachud J. is not 61 but 56!!
kianganz 4 May 2016, 07:44
+0 -2
Indeed, that did seem very old when I read it, should have double checked.

Has anyone calculated yet whether he could potentially make CJI one day?
Sunshine386 4 May 2016, 09:43
+0 -0
yes, he should be able to become CJI. unless Mr. Rao is younger to him. The last one retiring currently would be Justice Lalit on 8.11.22. Date of retirement of Justice Chandrachud would be 10 November 2024.
RNR 4 May 2016, 07:51
+0 -0
if justice chandrachud makes it, in 9 years he will surely be SC. To the best of my knowledge, U.U. Lalit J. is slated to be CJI and he retires in 2022. As does Ramana J.

Kian, Bhushan J. from Kerala is an important figure. He was in Allahabad HC and was soon after transferred when Chandrachud J came to to the All HC. An interview with Bhushan J. will be great.
Anon12345 4 May 2016, 08:53
+0 -0
If DYC J makes it in this round, he will surely become CJ for atleast 2 years (the difference between age of the youngest J in SC today and DYC J).
Ageist 4 May 2016, 09:09
+0 -0
Just fyi, Mr L Nageshwar Rao is 59.
Watching from Bombay 4 May 2016, 11:17
+2 -0
Wow, that means that Sanjay Kishan Kaul J. will not be CJI, since his tenure will be telescoped by that of the youngest judge referred to above.
Bombay High Court Watc 4 May 2016, 22:30
+4 -1
The manipulation worked -- DYC will be the CJI. The nepotism of the well connected in the Indian Judiciary is there for all to see -- YVC did for his son, what CJI Gajendragadkar did for him (YVC) and ensured the post of CJI. Pathetic!
Logically 5 May 2016, 07:25
+1 -1
Arre - his father died a long time back. How can it be nepotism? So according to you the ghost of his father manipulated the current collegium into his appointment?
Bombay High Court Watc 5 May 2016, 13:32
+3 -1
The manipulation started a long time ago. I watch these events from the perch of the Bombay High Court. Gajendragadkar was the CJI when YVC was appointed to the Bombay High Court in the 1960's: he had done the calculations. YVC did the same calculations when DYC was appointed. Three Judges took the oath on that day: Bobade (son of Arvind Bobade), Khanwilkar, and DYC. DYC was the youngest of the three -- 2 years younger. DYC's destiny was ensured by his father and the Law Minister at that time, Ram Jethmalini. BTW YVC was the Government Pleader at the Bombay High Court and Jethmalini appeared against him in most of the bail cases at that time -- both go a long way.
kianganz 5 May 2016, 07:53
+6 -2
I'm a bit confused - isn't DY Chandrachud pretty hugely respected for the authority he wields, his legal knowledge and general conduct as a judge?

Sure, it's impossible to be a judge and not piss some people off, but I've had a very good impression of him from people, and been told he's been SC material for ages already and was mainly not yet elevated because his CJI term would then be too long...
Ageist 5 May 2016, 09:24
+2 -2
That's spot on KG. DYC is meritorious and in his last 16 years of being a Judge, he has developed a sound level of judicial wisdom that will no doubt be the driving force for handling matters in the SC. He will also be the first Doctorate from Harvard to be the Chief Justice of India and the last person from the 1950's era to be the Chief Justice of India. He will bring along with him a new generation of advocacy style in SC during his tenure.
Bombay High Court Watc 5 May 2016, 13:35
+2 -2
People in the Bombay High Court will disagree. He is known as the Government's judge always taking their side. He is slow and indecisive. Name one judgement of his that stands out. YVC had many such judgements.
Hi. 5 May 2016, 15:27
+0 -1
Vodafone judgement =P. Easily one of the biggest cases to go against the government in recent times
Bombay High Court Watc 5 May 2016, 21:59
+1 -0
DYC held in favour of the Government in the Bombay High Court. His judgement was overturned in the SCI by a bench comprising of, among others, CJI Sarosh Kapadia.
TYS 5 May 2016, 14:24
+4 -1
The issue is not whether DYC is a good judge or not but whether his career took off due to nepotism. On that I have to agree with YVC/Gajendragadkar theory. It's common news in Bombay High Court that this was a quid pro quo done at YVC's behest. The Uncle judge syndrome at its very worst.

Many recent law school graduates would make excellent judges in courts but that does not mean they should be appointed on the basis of daddy/mommy/uncle/friend. Who n=knows, maybe there was a first-gen advocate equally good out there who did not have a CJI daddy.
Bombay High Court Watc 5 May 2016, 22:05
+1 -2
The tragedy of DYC is that here is a smart person, who is forever tainted by the efforts of his father YVC to make him (DYC) the CJI. It is well known in the Bombay High Court the extent to which YVC went to get his son briefed by some of the most prestigious solicitors, to make him (DYC) the ASG and finally to elevate DYC to the Bench. YVC pulled out all the stops. However hard DYC might try to shake and rewrite history his rise is largely because of nepotism and the efforts of his father.
It will be interesting to watch if DYC pulls out all the stops for his two sons.
LP6 6 May 2016, 07:26
+1 -0
DYC could have had a long tenure as but i guess after Rohinton Nariman, J. appointment thats not going to be the case.
Bobde, J. will have a long tenure as CJI though.
Bombay High Court Watc 6 May 2016, 10:58
+0 -0
Rohinton Nariman can NEVER become the CJI based on seniority. On the basis of the current lineup the CJI's will be Bobade, Ramana, and Lalit.
Ageist 6 May 2016, 15:46
+0 -0
My friend, never say never. Anything is possible.
Ageist 5 May 2016, 15:32
+2 -0
Do judgments really need to stand out? I am not too sure about that reasoning. Judgments need to be reasonable, just and fair. And if majority of the judgments come under this category, then perhaps all should stand out and not just one or two. As far as making a comparison with someone is concerned, then one needs to take up different stages of comparative evaluation which will need to be differentiated. There are two different eras of time here, two different generations, different circumstances, no two cases/situations can ever be the same. The Bombay High Court chaps have their own thoughts, the Allahabad High Court chaps will have their own perspectives and the Supreme Court chaps will have their own thoughts in due course. All these will certainly form perceptions about how the person performed but only after superannuation! At the moment, the journey continues....
Bombay High Court Watc 9 May 2016, 17:30
+2 -0
The Collegium has been active for the last few weeks both at the High Court and the Supreme Court levels. Yet I do not see any transparency. Whose names were considered, who was rejected, why were they rejected? will these questions ever been answered.
The appointments are now solely in the hands of the Judiciary. They now bear all the responsibility.
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