LOOKING BACK AT HIS CAREER

IMPORTANT CASES OF HIS TENURE

NJAC case: Justice Chelameswar expressed strong views on “a lack of transparency” in the judiciary in a strongly-worded dissent note while disagreeing with four fellow judges who struck down the NDA government’s National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act

Shreya Singhal/66a case: A bench of Justices Chelameswar and R Nariman struck down provision 66A of the IT Act, which had been used to arrest people for their online posts. The section “arbitrarily,

excessively and disproportionately invades the right of free speech”, the bench said

Aadhaar case: In 2015, Justice Chelameswar was a part of the three-judge bench, which said that no Indian can be denied government subsidies and other services just because they do not have an Aadhaar number/card

Right to privacy: Justice Chelameswar was a part of the nine-judge bench that declared right to privacy a fundamental right in August 2017.

CONTROVERSIES

Jan 12, 2018, press conference: With three other judges, he criticised the way cases are allocated in SC Prasad Medical College case: A bench headed by him referred a case of alleged corruption against judges to a bench of five judges Collegium boycott: In Sept 2016, Chelameswar wrote to then CJI TS Thakur, refusing to attend collegium meets over a “lack of transparency “Refusal: Says no to a farewell that is traditionally given to the retiring judge of the Supreme Court.