Ex-CJI Dr DY Chandrachud Viral Video: Former CJI had already announced vacating Govt bungalow, then why the controversy?

Ex-CJI Chandrachud delays vacating official bungalow due to adopted daughters’ rare illness. SC ordered immediate vacation, but accessibility challenges for his special-needs children caused delays. He had earlier also expressed his agony and highlighted India’s lack of disabled-friendly housing at a recent event.

New Delhi: The real reason behind the delay in vacating the government bungalow of former CJI Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, who has not been able to vacate the government bungalow yet, is making headlines after the Supreme Court sent a letter on July 1, reports Dynamite News correspondent.

This letter was written to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in which it was stated that Dr. Chandrachud should vacate the official residence of the CJI with immediate effect, as the special permission and maximum period of 6 months given to him has now expired.

On this issue, the former CJI clarified, "All our belongings have been packed; only the things of daily use are outside. We will shift from here soon. We will vacate this bungalow in a maximum of 10 days or two weeks."

He clarified the reason for the delay and said that all the belongings have been packed, but the necessary furniture is yet to be sent to the new house by truck. He will soon shift to the new government residence at Teen Murti Marg, where he can stay for a maximum of 6 months.

The former CJI also shared another humanitarian reason for this delay—the serious health condition of his two daughters. Dr. Chandrachud and his wife, Kalpana Das, have adopted two daughters named Priyanka and Mahi, who suffer from a rare disease. Therefore, the new house is being prepared according to their needs, which is taking time.

Gave a glimpse of personal agony at the Mission Accessibility event

A video related to this is also going viral on the internet, in which Dr. Chandrachud shares his agony during the 'Mission Accessibility' program in New Delhi on 10 April 2025. He said that on 30 April 2025, he had to vacate the official residence, but till now he has not been able to find a new house suitable for the needs of his daughters.

“We have two daughters with special needs. We looked at several houses, but each one had some inconvenience. Somewhere each room was at a different level; somewhere there were stairs. One landlord talked about installing a wooden ramp, not quite realizing that a wooden ramp is not just putting one little connector between level one and level zero, but much more,” he said.

In this context, Chandrachud referred to one of his judgments (the Rajiv Raturi case), in which he had stressed making public places, transport, and housing in India disabled-friendly.