I am probably the most trolled judge: CJI Chandrachud responds with Shayari to trolls

Outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Friday said that he might perhaps be the most trolled judge but that does not deter him and he respects his opponents.

He also responded to the criticism and online trolling he has received in the last few days by quoting a Urdu Shayari by poet Bashir Badr.

"I hope you know that amount of trolling I have received. I am probably the most trolled judge across the system. I will only say a shayari - Mukhalif se meri shaksiyat sanwarti hai Mein dushmano ka bada ehtiram karta hu [Opposition makes better my personality, I respect my enemies very much]," he said.

The CJI also said on a lighter note that his trolls will be unemployed from Monday next week. CJI Chandrachud demits office on Sunday, November 10.

"On a lighter note, I am wondering what will happen from Monday as all those who trolled me will be rendered unemployed," he said.

He was speaking at the farewell function organised for him by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

The outgoing CJI has been in the eye of the storm of late for certain public remarks of his including the recent one regarding the Ayodhya judgment when he said that he had appealed to God to help him with a solution to the long-standing dispute.

He has also been criticised for allocation of certain bail matters to certain benches.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the residence of CJI in September to participate in the Mahalaxmi and Ganpati Puja, sparking a debate over the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary. The event was televised leading to criticism.

Many of his judgments have also been condemned for not taking the executive to task.

Sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India two years ago, CJI Chandrachud had taken over from former CJI Uday Umesh Lalit.

He was the longest serving CJI since the retirement of CJI KG Balakrishnan in May 2010.

Born on November 11, 1959, he graduated from Delhi's St Stephen's College in 1979 before completing his LL.B. from Delhi University in 1982 and LL.M. from Harvard University in 1983. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Juridicial Sciences (SJD) from Harvard in 1986.

He served as an Additional Solicitor General for India from 1998 to 2000. He was designated a Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court in 1998 and appeared in several important cases involving public interest litigation, rights of bonded women workers, rights of HIV positive workers in the workplace, contract labour and the rights of religious and linguistic minorities.

He was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000 and served there till his appointment as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court on October 31, 2013.

His elevation to the Supreme Court took place on May 13, 2016. 

He has since authored a number of notable judgments including dissenting opinions against the ruling dispensation.

He was the lone dissenting judge on a Constitution Bench which held the Aadhaar Act to be unconstitutional for having been passed as a Money Bill.

Under his Chairpersonship, the Supreme Court E-Court Committee has been instrumental in creating infrastructure for live-streaming of court proceedings in India, especially at a time when hearings were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.