Delivered less than he promised

Belying expectations, the outgoing Chief Justice of India has left behind a mixed legacy, says

- ASHOK KAPUR

The occasion should have been routine - the retirement of the Chief Justice of India. Since Independence, the nation has had 50 CJIs in about 75 years, which makes it around one such event every 18 months. There is the usual excitement about the incoming new Chief for a few days and then the routine farewell goodbyes to the outgoing Chief, recounting his initiatives and efforts at 'judicial reforms'. And soon it is history. The name disappears from public discourse. Over and out.

This time, it has been rather different. The retirement last month of the respected Chief Justice DY Chandrachud continues to excite widespread comment and debate about the 'legacy' that he has left behind. There is, by and large, disappointment and worse about his innings of two years where he was widely expected to set right some glaring shortfalls between promise and performance, between anticipated and actual achievement. The stakeholder society at large, was fondly hopeful that he would set right the growing perception that somehow the delicate 'balance of power' between the ruling Executive and the Judiciary was tilting in favour of the former.

It is the experience of universal social dynamics that where expectations are high, and these are belied, the disappointment is deep. After all, the Chief had the best credentials for a top scorer, a 'man of the match' material. He was the youngest judge appointed to any High Court in India. He had done his law at Harvard. His respected late father was likewise the Chief Justice of India who served the longest in the Apex Court, a man of impeccable integrity. It could be confidently said that legal acumen was embedded in his genes. And he was widely cheered even before he started his innings.