Justice Chandrachud was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2016

Throughout his tenure at the SC, not just as CJI, Justice Chandrachud was never shy of hearing and deciding political slugfests

The rough and tumble at the helm of the Allahabad High Court may have played its role, in his evolution beyond hearing commercial and regulatory disputes in the Bombay High Court

His eight-year term in the Supreme Court, has seen him address some of the most volatile, multi-generational issues with the highest of stakes for India's political leaders

Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi Case Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi Case It doesn't get bigger than this, the issue going back a couple of hundred years, became the fulcrum of a muscular Hindu identity since the late 1980s

With Justice Chandrachud believed to have authored the Ayodhya judgment, it places the outgoing CJI at the heart of this raging dispute 

In November of 2019, a bench including Justice Chandrachud, directed the construction of Ram temple at the contested site

The court directed for an alternate five-acre plot for building a mosque, the bench was headed by former CJI R Gogoi, currently, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha

Article 370 In December of 2023, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by CJI Chandrachud upheld the stripping of special status from Jammu & Kashmir through abrogation of Article 370

The apex court held that Article 370 was only a "temporary" provision with the J&K "Constituent Assembly" being only transitory in the nature

The court also upheld the breaking up of the state in Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh

CJI Chandrachud's judgment was criticized for undermining the federal structure, by allowing the Parliament to act on behalf of the State Legislature

Electoral Bonds During his tenure as the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley had introduced electoral bonds in the FY18 budget claiming that it will clean up political funding

Seven years down the road, a five-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Chandrachud, struck down the scheme as "unconstitutional"

Privacy + Aadhaar One of the most lasting contributions by the outgoing CJI, is the 2017 nine-judge bench judgment granting Indians the Fundamental Right to Privacy

Justice Chandrachud authored the landmark judgment, which held that the Right to Life (Article 21), inherently includes the Right to Privacy

A few months later the Supreme Court, in a 4:1 majority, upheld the constitutionality of Aadhaar – the core of Centre's JAM trinity

He opined, "Aadhaar number becomes the central unifying feature that connects the cell phone with geo-location data, one's presence and movement with a bank account and income tax returns, food and lifestyle consumption with medical records"

Delhi vs Centre Justice Chandrachud led a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, in holding that the Centre cannot deprive the elected government of Delhi of legislative and executive powers

The court further limited the powers of the LG, to only issues beyond the scope of the Delhi government's jurisdiction