D Y Chandrachud: From a Liberal Icon to Hindutva Proponent!

[Sukla Sen]

What a turnaround!

The (majority) verdict, understandably, penned by him only, clearly asserts that there was no conclusive evidence to show that the Babri Masjid was constructed over any demolished temple.

Apart from that, two very important testimonies -- Baburnama, memoirs by Emperor Babur whose army general Mir Baqi who constructed the masjid, and very well-known and once extremely popular religious text, Ramacharitamanas, by Goswami Tulsidas, a resident of nearby temple town Banaras, make no mention of the alleged demolition.

Nor does any other contemporary historical document.

The story would crop up much later.

Far more importantly, he -- a retired CJI now -- is trying to justify a hugely criminal act in the name of righting a historical wrong, unproven to boot, committed well over four hundred years ago.

That has very disturbing and dangerous implications.

<https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/very-erection-of-babri-masjid-was-a-fundamental-act-of-desecration-ex-cji-dy-chandrachud-contradicts-ayodhya-judgment-finding-305100>

[P.S.:

He has followed a clear downward trajectory.

To start with, he was the very brightest in the recent decades.

Before becoming the CJI was known for his bold liberal stands. Had called the passing of the Aadhaar Act as a "moneybill" to bypass the RS a "travesty". (In retrospect, he had very well known that he was passing a minority judgement having little significance other than brushing up his image further.) 

Then came the shocker: the Ayodhya judgement. Even there he interjected some positive elements. Asserted that the "findings" of ASI are far from any conclusive proof and for that matter there was no conclusive proof.

As the CJI he started off as an astute trapeze artiste. Would mix grossly bad judgements with some good ones: Teesta Setalvad and Rahul Gandhi. Very good optics. In the case of Mahua Moitra, however -- nothing of that sort.

Arguably his grotesquely ugliest judgement was his pronouncement that it's kosher for the Parliament to assume the powers exclusively reserved for a state legislature to maintain the desired power balance and the federal element in the Indian Constitution if the Union Government manages to dismiss the state legislature.

Then he invited the largest litigant in his Court -- the Prime Minister of India -- to a religious function at home to give him an extra edge in the coming Maharashtra poll. 

As the Master of the Roster, he kept assigning the sensitive cases to handpicked nastiest ones available at that point of time.

Immediately after retirement he'd go ahead to set a new record by proclaiming that the Ayodhya judgement had sought for divine endorsement.

That was, so to speak, the very depth.

It was presumably meant to set a precedence as to how to legitimise a visibly absurd judgement.

Mercifully, it has not been put to use as yet.]

Peace Is Doable

[Sukla Sen]

Hi,

Thanks!

Of course intimidation is a standard element in the bag of dirty tricks of the incumbent regime.

How an "aberrant" member of the Election Commission -- Ashok Lavasa -- was eased out after setting government agencies on his sister, wife and son and finally offering him a lucrative foreign posting is a graphic illustration.

But, Chandrachud never appeared that helpless. Kiren Rijiju, the then union law minister, was shifted from his post after he had issued fairly explicit threats of dire actions against judges post-retirement. Understandably, at the behest of Chandrachud. It was presumably done to satisfy his ego. That was in early '23.

More importantly, his shift is rather gradual.

One cannot simply imagine that his out-of-the-blue post-retirement claim that the Ayodhya judgement, reportedly, penned by him had sought for divine endorsement was under any specific external threat. The same very much applies also to his latest turnaround on the validity of the Ram Mandir demolition claim.

They must have been done in a very calculated way with some specific goals in mind.

Sukla

Peace Is Doable

On Mon, Sep 29, 2025, 15:31 Pushpa S <puz...@gmail.com> wrote:

My responding here, now, is a first, so please do indulge me, as I am a Newbie to Socialism and many of the important issues you discuss here!?

All of you here are vastly experienced in Politics, while I was not involved at all till 2004 or so... So, I have a lot to learn from all of you, I believe. :-)

Only recently, I came across a video/ report about how Judge Loya's family was subtly warned not to pursue their desire to get a repeat autopsy done and start a probe into  the obviously unnatural death of the Judge, when his body was inexplicably recieved at  his native Village, instead of his home.

Judge D. Y. Chandrachud also figured in the case aound that time, I think, and I would not be surprised if he was, also, given subtle warnings, ostensibly emanating from the  powers that ruled the Nation. 

I believe that Chandrachud must have been  intimidated sufficiently to toe the line of the powers that be, especially as he had a family consisting of a wife and two innocent disabled adopted daughters. Physical threats and intimidation, especially involving family, would be very, very difficult to ignore, wouldnt it!?

Even recent judgements by the Judge which involved crucial and urgent issues connected with the Government were found to reflect uncertainty and inconsistency, as noted by many observers and commentators. The less sensitive cases seemed to elicit liberal and justified verdicts. 

I would like to give the benefit of the doubt to the Judge, especially after he seemingly willingly invited and hosted the Minister for Puja at his home, recently!??

I found it hard to believe he had extended an invitation. Rather, I would choose to believe that he had no say in the matter. 

I just wanted to put my views on this issue of the Liberal Judge turning into a Hindutwa proponent, as I believe that it could probably be more of a fight for survival for him and many other Judges,... and others...

I welcome other/opposite views, as I strongly believe in free thought and free speech, too!

Thank you, Friends and Colleagues.

Warm regards,

Pushpa S.

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