‘Luggage is packed’: DY Chandrachud cites daughters’ special needs on CJI bungalow row

Justice Chandrachud said his daughters Priyanka and Mahi suffer from Nemaline myopathy, a rare genetic disorder that severely affects skeletal muscles, making accessibility, hygiene, and specialised care non-negotiable in their housing needs. “They are special children and they have special needs,” he said, adding that the family also employs a trained nurse to assist them round-the-clock and need a wheelchair-friendly home.

“I won’t tell you how I feel, but you can imagine… This is not a luxury for us. My elder daughter was in the ICU for 44 days in 2021, and she now has a tracheostomy tube,” he said, recalling an episode during a family holiday in Shimla that turned into a medical emergency.

The former CJI also said the extension granted to him was not unprecedented, pointing to similar post-retirement arrangements made for his predecessors Justices U U Lalit and N V Ramana. “Justice Lalit was allotted a house on Safdarjung Road, and Justice Ramana received a government accommodation at Tughlaq Road,” he noted.

The July 1 letter by the Supreme Court to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs flagged that the permissible extension for Chandrachud’s stay had lapsed. While Rule 3B of the Supreme Court Judges (Amendment) Rules, 2022 allows a retired CJI to stay in a Type VII bungalow for six months post-retirement, the official CJI residence is a notch above and meant strictly for the incumbent chief justice.

Justice Chandrachud clarified that after retiring, he had informed his successor Justice Sanjiv Khanna about his intent to move back to his earlier residence at 14, Tughlaq Road. However, Khanna reportedly told him to continue at 5, Krishna Menon Marg as he did not wish to occupy the CJI bungalow.

Later, Justice Chandrachud wrote to Khanna on December 18, 2024, seeking time until April 30 to vacate. On April 28, he sought another extension until June 30, citing ongoing search for a suitable residence with accessibility features. According to Chandrachud, that letter received no formal response, though he did inform current CJI B R Gavai over phone that a new government accommodation had been allotted to him and was under repair.

“The house was lying in disuse for two years. The contractor said it would be ready by June 30… we’re just waiting for the final go-ahead. Maybe some work remained and that’s why the delay,” he said.

He added that even when he became CJI, he initially stayed back at his old residence at 14, Tughlaq Road because the family was comfortable there. “But a few months in, I realised that the place was too small for the official functions of the CJI’s office. Even then, I shifted to Krishna Menon Marg only a year after taking office,” he said.

Supreme Court sources said that the request to reclaim the CJI residence was made keeping in mind the housing requirements for 33 sitting judges, with the Court functioning at near full strength of 34.

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