Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud

The Honourable Justice Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud ( _mr. यशवंत विष्णू चंद्रचूड) (12 July 1920 - 14 July 2008) served as the Chief Justice of India from February 22, 1978 to the day he retired on July 11, 1985. Born in Poona in the state of Maharashtra, he was first appointed Judge to the Supreme Court of India on August 28, 1972 and is the longest serving Chief Justice in India's history at 7 years and 4 months.

The Habeas Corpus Case

In one of the most notable cases in Indian constitutional history, during the Indian Emergency (1975-1977) of Indira Gandhi, a bench constituted of the five most senior judges of the Supreme court of India heard the famous Habeas Corpus case, where detenues under the restrictive Maintenance of Internal Security Act had argued that the right to habeas corpus (article 21 in the Indian constitution) could not be suspended even during periods of national emergency.

Despite widespread high court support for Habeas Corpus, Justice Chandrachud went along with Justices A.N. Ray, P.N. Bhagwati, and M.H. Beg, to reject this position [cite news
title = A.D.M. Jabalpur vs Shukla: When the Supreme Court struck down the Habeas Corpus
author = Jos. Peter D 'Souza
publisher = PUCL Bulletin
url = http://www.pucl.org/reports/National/2001/habeascorpus.htm
date = June 2001
accessdate = 2007-09-16] , stating that:In view of the Presidential Order dated 27th June 1975 no person has any locus to move any writ petition under Art. 226 before a High Court for habeas corpus or any other writ or order or direction to challenge the legality of an order of detention.The only dissenting opinion was from Justice H. R. Khanna, who has been widely acclaimed for this act.

Death

Justice Y.V. Chandrachud passed away on the 14th of July 2008 shortly after he was admitted to the Bombay Hospital. He is survived by his wife, Prabha, his son, the eminent jurist and sitting Judge of the Bombay High Court Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud [http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/site/judge/dyc1.html] , and his daughter, Nirmala.

References

External links

* [http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/ Official Supreme Court of India Website]
* [http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/ Official Bombay High Court Website]
* [http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/bio/yvchandrachud.htm Y. V. Chandrachud's Official Supreme Court of India Biography]
* [http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/site/judge/dyc1.html Dr. Justice D. Y. Chandrachud's Office Bombay High Court Biography]