NEW DELHI, JULY 7 2025 — Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has clarified that there was no delay on his part in vacating the official Chief Justice bungalow at 5, Krishna Menon Marg in Delhi.
In an interview with Bar & Bench, Justice Chandrachud stated:
“We are all packed up, our furniture is packed…except the day-to-day furniture which we just put in a truck and take to the new house. It is just probably going to take another ten days, at the most two weeks.”
MOVING TO NEW RESIDENCE AT TEEN MURTI MARG
Justice Chandrachud, who retired in November 2024, will now move into a government-allotted residence at Teen Murti Marg, an entitlement for retired Supreme Court judges for six months post-retirement.
The former CJI explained that he continued to occupy Krishna Menon Marg due to the rare medical condition of his two adopted daughters, Priyanka and Mahi, who suffer from nemaline myopathy.
“They are now 16 and 14. They are not six-year-old girls anymore. They have their own dignity, privacy, and needs. There are little things…like the width of the bathroom door, through which a wheelchair has to enter.”
SUPREME COURT ADMINISTRATION’S INTERVENTION
The controversy arose after the Supreme Court administration wrote to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on July 1, requesting immediate repossession of the bungalow.
Justice Chandrachud had formal permission to stay until April 30, with an informal extension until May 31. However, he continued staying into July.
Under the Supreme Court Judges Rules, 2022, a retired Chief Justice is entitled to a Type VII house rent-free for six months, but a Type VIII residence like Krishna Menon Marg requires special permission and payment of a license fee.
HOUSING CHALLENGES DUE TO MEDICAL NEEDS
Justice Chandrachud elaborated that he had made multiple efforts to find accessible housing.
“We almost froze on something, and the owner turned around and said I can’t give it to you for three months.”
He formally wrote to then CJI Sanjiv Khanna on April 28, seeking an extension until June 30.
“We had shortlisted a few places. We just needed two more months to finalise one. Justice Khanna had earlier said he wasn’t going to occupy the Krishna Menon Marg house and even suggested that I stay on.”
When Justice BR Gavai took over in May, Chandrachud explained the condition of the new house:
“I told Justice Gavai that the house allotted to me by the government needed substantial repairs. It had been vacant for two years. No judge had wanted to live in it earlier. The contractor made it clear that repairs would go on till the end of June.”
He emphasized there was no indefinite request:
“I told him if you can extend, I’ll be grateful. If not, I am ready to pay the market rent. That’s the rule, and I am more than willing to comply. I am not here on sufferance.”
MEDICAL DEPENDENCY AND LOGISTIC CHALLENGES
Justice Chandrachud shared the unique difficulties of moving with medically dependent children:
“We have a small ICU setup at home. During a recent vacation in Shimla, my daughter developed respiratory distress. She had to be airlifted to Chandigarh in an ambulance. She was in ICU for 44 days. She’s still on a tracheostomy tube. It has to be cleaned, maintained, replaced, sometimes at midnight. Only AIIMS doctors are familiar with her condition.”
PREVIOUS HOUSING AND OFFICIAL OBLIGATIONS
Chandrachud also recalled his initial reluctance to move into Krishna Menon Marg when he became CJI in 2022:
“When I became CJI in 2022, I was in the smallest house in the Supreme Court pool. I had been staying at 14 Tughlaq Road from 2016. I didn’t want to move. But eventually, when you’re Chief, dignitaries visit, ceremonial work is expected. I had to move.”
He noted that other judges had also received extensions:
“Justice UU Lalit was given accommodation in Safdarjung Road. Justice NV Ramana was allotted another house. Justice Hima Kohli, who retired in September 2024, vacated only by March or April 2025. This is not like Army House or Navy House where the next person moves in the day you retire. In fact, Justice Khanna told me why take the burden of moving back to Tughlaq Road?”
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON HIS DAUGHTERS
Justice Chandrachud has often spoken about the challenges of finding accessible housing in Delhi:
“We have two beautiful daughters, who have needs, but it has been difficult to find a house to cater to their needs. Every public space is the same. For too long, our society has kept the disabled under the curtain of ignorance and suppression.”
He recalled adopting his daughters while at the Allahabad High Court:
“Initially they were just bones and flesh. The mother had completely ignored them thinking they were a lost cause.”
“My older daughter kept saying I don’t want my sister to go through this.”
