'Not a coffee shop...': CJI Chandrachud's rap to lawyer's 'yeah'
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud reprimanded a lawyer on Monday for using the informal term "yeah" to address the bench, saying he is "allergic" to the expression. He added that the courtroom is not a cafe. The lawyer had referenced a 2018 petition in which he included former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi as a respondent. Chief Justice Chandrachud questioned, "But is it an Article 32 plea? How can you file a PIL with a judge as a respondent?"
CJI pulls up lawyer over language
To which, the lawyer casually responded, "Yeah, yeah the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi... I was asked to file a curative..." The CJI cut him short. "This is not a coffee shop! what is this yeah yeah. I am very allergic to this yeah yeah. This cannot be allowed." To recall, Article 32 of the Constitution allows citizens to seek constitutional remedies for violations of their fundamental rights.
What CJI said on the plea
"Justice Gogoi was a former judge of this court. You cannot file a plea like this against a judge and seek an in-house inquiry because you did not succeed before the bench," the Chief Justice added. The lawyer then responded, "But Justice Gogoi dismissed my plea relying on the statement that I had challenged for being illegal."
Lawyer advised to modify petition
"I had no fault...had requested CJI Thakur to move my...plea before a bench conversant with the labor laws...that didn't happen...it was dismissed," the lawyer added. The Chief Justice then addressed the lawyer in Marathi, stating that a judge cannot be impugned when challenging a high court ruling. He also informed the petitioner that the court's registry would review the petition and instructed him to remove the name of Justice Ranjan Gogoi—who is now a Rajya Sabha MP—from the document.
