🌟 What did D.Y. Chandrachud Overruled in his father's judgment
In 1985, a judgment authored by Justice Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, father of Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud, in
Sowmithri Vishnu vs.Union of India had upheld the constitutional validity of the section.This has been overruled by Justice D Y Chandrachud in
Joseph Shine v Union of India. [497]
This instance of Justice Chandrachud overruling father's judgment is happening for the second time.
The first occasion was in the privacy judgment, when Justice D.Y.Chandrachud held that the judgments rendered by all the four judges including his father constituting the majority in ADM Jabalpur were seriously flawedKS PUTTASWAMY RATIO-
The judgments rendered by all the four judges constituting the majority in ADM Jabalpur are seriously flawed.
Life and personal liberty are inalienable to human existence. These rights are, as recognised in Kesavananda Bharati, primordial rights. They constitute rights under natural law. The right to life being inalienable to each individual, it existed prior to the Constitution and continued in force Under Article 372 of the Constitution. Therefore, ADM Jabalpur must be and is accordingly overruled.
JOSEPH SHINE RATIO—
The decision in Sowmithri Vishnu dealt with the constitutional challenge by approaching the discourse on the denial of equality in formal, and rather narrow terms. The inarticulate major premise of the judgment is that prosecution for adultery is an effort to protect the stability of marriages and if the legislature has sought to prosecute only a limited class of 'adulterous relationships', its choice could not be questioned. 'Sowmithri Vishnu'
fails to deal with the substantive aspects of constitutional jurisprudence which have a bearing on the validity of Section 497 of the act the guarantee of equality as a real protection against arbitrariness,the guarantee of life and personal liberty
as an essential recognition of dignity, autonomy and privacy and above all gender equality as a cornerstone of a truly equal society. For these reasons, Sowmithri Vishnu is overruled.