'ICU-Like Setup For Daughter': Ex-CJI Chandrachud Reacts To SC Order To Vacate Bungalow

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Last Updated:July 06, 2025, 13:05 IST

Ex-CJI Chandrachud's reaction came after the Supreme Court administration wrote to Centre, seeking an "immediate vacation" of the official Chief Justice’s residence.

EX-CJI DY Chandrachud and sitting CJI BR Gavai (PTI File Image)

Former Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, on Sunday, reacted to the Supreme Court administration’s letter to the Centre, seeking “immediate vacation" of the official residence of the CJI and its return to the court’s housing pool.

Justice Chandrachud, who retired as the CJI in November last year, continues to stay in Bungalow No. 5 on Krishna Menon Marg in Lutyens’ Delhi – which is designated as the official residence for the sitting CJI under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs – nearly eight months after his retirement.

Sources told CNN-News18 that the top court’s administration has requested the government to get the house vacated without delay.

Justice Chandrachud Responds To Letter

Explaining the situation while speaking with CNN-News18, the former CJI said that former Sanjiv Khanna, who preceded him as the Chief Justice of India, allowed him an extension until April and, after that, he sought another extension due to “special needs" for his elder daughter, for whom an “ICU-like setup" has been created at the existing residence.

“Justice Sanjiv Khanna allowed me the extension until April. At April end, I wrote to Justice Khanna seeking an extension till June," Justice Chandrachud said.

Citing his daughter’s ill health, he said that he urged the government to allot him a temporary accommodation on rent, and he would shift there as soon as the required repairs were completed.

“We were looking for a specific house since our daughters are with special needs. We have created an ICU-like setup for our elder daughter, and hence finding a house in the open market according to our needs is difficult. Hence, I had requested the government to give me temporary accommodation on rent," he said.

“The government house allocated to me required a lot of repairs, and we’re just waiting for it to be complete, and the very next day we will move in. Our packing is complete, I will move the very next day when the house is ready," the former CJI clarified.

Stay Period Extended After Retirement

According to a report, Justice DY Chandrachud wrote to then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna on December 18, 2024—just over a month after retiring—asking for permission to stay at his official house at 5 Krishna Menon Marg until April 30, 2025.

In the letter, he explained that although he had been given another house (Bungalow No. 14 on Tughlak Road) as per the rules for retired judges, renovation work there was delayed because of restrictions on construction under GRAP-IV (a pollution control plan in Delhi).

He said it would be easier to stay at his current home until the renovation was done. He also offered to give up the Tughlak Road house so it could be given to another judge.

As per the rules made in 2022, a retired Chief Justice is allowed to stay in Type VII accommodation (a slightly smaller house) for up to six months after retirement. But Justice Chandrachud was staying in a Type VIII bungalow, which is usually for serving Chief Justices.

After Chief Justice Khanna agreed, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs approved his request, allowing him to stay in the Krishna Menon Marg bungalow from December 11, 2024, to April 30, 2025.

This approval was officially sent to the Supreme Court in a letter dated February 13, 2025.

Ananya Bhatnagar

Ananya Bhatnagar, Correspondent at CNN-News18, reports on various legal issues and cases in lower courts and the Delhi High Court. He has covered the hanging of the Nirbhaya gang-rape convicts, JNU violence, De...Read More

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