Chandrachud J has written a dissent for the ages. — Gautam Bhatia (@gautambhatia88) 1537943274000

If Bhima-Koregaon case Justice DY Chandrachud were on social media, he would have probably been flooded with heart emojis. As it is, the 58-year-old judge earned glowing praise with epithets like “the shining star of SC” and “liberal lion”.Considering the spate of recent judgments on Aadhaar and Sabarimala to Bhima Koregaon and Section 377 where he has spoken up for fundamental rights and in defence of dissent, it’s not surprising that he’s emerged as the poster boy for liberals. Many have even forgotten their grouse against him for authoring the judgment in the Loya case.He is a Mumbai boy who studied at Cathedral before moving to St Stephen’s and Campus Law Centre in Delhi University where his father YV Chandrachud went on to become the longest serving Chief Justice of India. In March 2000, he beat a record held by his father to be sworn in as the youngest high court judge at 40 years and four months of age. Interestingly, on two occasions, the privacy case and the petition to strike down adultery from the Indian Penal Code , Chandrachud has taken the rare step of overruling his father’s judgments.On the career path though, he is set to follow the path of his father, and will be in line for the tenure of Chief Justice of India in November 2022 for two years.His well-crafted judgments have been appreciated by both jurists and lawyers. After the Aadhaar judgment where he was the lone dissenter in the 4:1 verdict, lawyer Gautam Bhatia tweeted that Justice Chandrachud had “written a dissent for the ages”.Recent cases may have burnished his free speech credentials but he has been known to wear his liberalism on his sleeve. Almost a decade ago, as a judge of the Bombay high court, he had in a concurring view in an order that set aside the state’s suspension of a movie screening, said, “Governance in civil society must thrive by the expression of dissent as much as democracy thrives by the expression of popular support.’’“Dissent is a symbol of vibrant democracy,’’ he declared once again on Friday, as he differed with Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar in the Elgaar Parishad case.A doctorate from Harvard, he believes in showing the “human face of law’’ through his verdicts, be it to protect the rights of an adoptive parent or those in same-sex relationships. In his erudite concurring verdict in de-criminalising same-sex consensual intercourse under section 377, he said, “Our ability to recognise others who are different is a sign of our own evolution. We miss the symbols of a compassionate and humane society only at our peril."“The duty of a judge is not to merely to see that law is followed but to ensure a just and compassionate outcome,’’ Justice Chandrachud had in 2016 told TOI just as he was to be sworn in as a SC judge.