Chandrachud

Mumbai, July 14 (PTI): Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, a former Chief Justice of India who was part of the majority bench that ruled in favour of the Indira Gandhi government in a landmark habeas corpus case during Emergency, died today.

Chandrachud, 88, was the longest-serving chief justice, having served between 1978 and 1985. He died at Bombay Hospital after a long illness.

During Emergency, Chandrachud was on the five-judge bench that said no one could move a high court for habeas corpus — a law that says a person who has been arrested should not be held longer than a particular period without court sanction — to challenge a detention order.

The question of whether the right to habeas corpus (Article 21 of the Constitution) could be suspended during periods of national emergency came up after scores of detainees under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act moved petitions.

Despite widespread high court support for habeas corpus, the bench rejected the petitions in a 4-1 verdict on April 28, 1976. The only dissenting opinion was from Justice H.R. Khanna.

Chandrachud was also appointed by the Indian cricket board to probe allegations of match-fixing in the 1990s.