CJI Chandrachud's father asked him to keep Pune house till his last day as judge. Here's why

Supreme Court judge Sanjiv Khanna will take over as the CJI on November 11.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday shared a heartwarming story about his father's advice to him on maintaining moral and intellectual integrity.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud sitting in a ceremonial four-judge bench convened to bid his farewell.

In his farewell speech on his last day in court, CJI Chandrachud said his father, former CJI (late) YV Chandrachud, bought a small flat in Pune and asked him to keep it until the last day of his tenure as a judge.

Justice Chandrachud said his father wanted him to feel that he had a roof over his head. He advised him to never compromise as a lawyer or as a judge "because you have no place of your own".

"He (my father) bought this small flat in Pune. I asked him, why on earth are you buying a flat in Pune? When are we going to go and stay there? He said, I know I'm never going to stay there. He said I'm not sure how long I will be with you. But do one thing, keep this flat until the last day of your tenure as a judge. I said, why is that? He said, if you feel that your moral integrity or your intellectual integrity is ever compromised, I want you to know that you have a roof over your head. Never allow yourself to be compromised either as a lawyer or as a judge because you have no place of your own," Justice Chandrachud said.

Justice YV Chandrachud was the longest-serving chief justice of India.

Justice DY Chandrachud said he exposed his personal life to public knowledge.

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant. I know in so many ways I've exposed my own life to public knowledge. When you expose your own life to public knowledge, you expose yourself to criticism, particularly in today's age of social media. My shoulders are broad enough to accept all the criticism that we have faced. The bar has responded with tremendous support in all the initiatives which we have taken," he added.

He also shared why his mother named him Dhananjay.

"Thank you so much for such a great honour...I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the Supreme Court Bar Association for organising this event...My mother told me when I was growing up that I had named you Dhananjay. But the 'dhan' in your 'Dhananjay' is not material wealth. I want you to acquire knowledge," he said.

Supreme Court judge Sanjiv Khanna will take over as the CJI on November 11.

At a farewell event for Justice Chandrachud, organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Justice Khanna said there would be an "emptiness" in the Supreme Court with him demitting office.

“When a towering tree in the forest of justice steps back, the birds pause their songs, and the wind moves differently. Other trees shift and adjust to fill the void. But the forest will never be quite the same again,” he added.

All you need to know about Justice Chandrachud

Justice Chandrachud was born on November 11, 1959. He was designated as a senior advocate by the Bombay high court in June 1998 and served as the additional solicitor general, before being appointed as a judge of the Bombay high court on March 29, 2000.

He later became the chief justice of the Allahabad high court on October 31, 2013.

Justice Chandrachud holds a BA degree in Economics from Delhi's St Stephen's College, an LLB from the Delhi University's Campus Law Centre and an LLM and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences (SJD) from the Harvard Law School.

With inputs from PTI, ANI