Family Histories And Professional Graphs Are Intertwined In The Supreme Court’s Service
Two Chief Justices of India (CJI) whose fathers had presided over the Supreme Court are expected to serve during this decade.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the newly appointed CJI, is the son of Y.V. Chandrachud, a previous CJI. E.S. Venkataramiah, a former chief justice, is the father of Justice B.V. Nagarathna. The first female Chief Justice of India will be Justice Nagarathna in 2027 for a one-month term.
According to George H. Gadbois Jr.’s Judges of the Supreme Court of India 1950-1989, Justice Venkataramiah was only supposed to hold the position of CJI for 23 days in the beginning. However, because Justice R.S. Pathak, his immediate predecessor, was elected to the International Court of Justice and resigned on June 18, 1989, Justice Venkataramiah’s term as the 19th CJI was extended to six months from June 19, 1989, until
The 16th Chief Justice of India, who held the position for the longest period of time—from February 22, 1978, to July 11, 1985—was Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s father. On November 10, 2024, Justice Chandrachud will step down as the 50th Chief Justice of India. His successor will be Justice Sanjiv Khanna, a relative of Justice H.R. Khanna, whose lone dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency period is said to have cost him his position as Chief Justice in 1977. During the Chaudhary Charan Singh administration in July 1979, when the senior Justice Chandrachud served as CJI, Justice Khanna served as the Law Minister for three days.
On March 8, 1979, Justice Y.V. Chandrachud was the Chief Justice of India when Justice Venkataramiah, Justice Nagarathna’s father, took the oath of office as a Supreme Court justice.
However, they are not the only Supreme Court justices whose personal and professional lives are intertwined with their work for the court.
Nearly 40 years later, Sir H.J. Kania, the first Chief Justice of India, appointed his nephew to the position. The 23rd CJI, Justice M.H. Kania, served from December 1991 to November 1992.
The 21st Chief Justice of India, Ranganath Misra, and the 45th Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, were another uncle-nephew pair of CJIs.
Justice B.P. Sinha and Justice B.P. Singh are a grandfather-grandson duo. While Justice Singh presided over the Supreme Court from December 2001 to July 2007, Justice Sinha served as the 6th Chief Justice of India.
Access to justice
The Supreme Court has also had instances where a parent served as a judge before his son was appointed Chief Justice of the Int’l. Justice P.N. Bhagwati has won praise for promoting access to justice for those who lack fundamental human rights. The 17th CJI, he was. Between 1952 and 1959, his father, Justice N.H. Bhagwati presided over the Supreme Court for seven years.
Additionally, the court has seen the father, in this case, Justice K.S. Hegde, replaced as Chief Justice. Years later, his son, Justice N. Santosh Hegde, was appointed to the Supreme Court. After being replaced, the senior Hegde along with Justices J.M. Shelat and A.N. Grover resigned. All three were a part of the 13-judge bench’s majority decision in the famous Kesavananda Bharati ruling from April 1973, which maintained the Constitution’s Basic Structure’s inviolability. Later, he held the position of Lok Sabha Speaker. Between January 1999 and June 2005, Justice Santosh Hegde presided over the Supreme Court.
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