The judgment was recognised for undertaking a critical and nuanced analysis that weighs towards an inclusive definition of 'efficiency' and consequently 'merit', - one that is consistent with the principle of substantive equality, as opposed to formal equality. Drawing on the work of Amartya Sen, he held that:A meritocratic system is one that rewards actions that result in the outcomes that we as a society value…Thus, the providing of reservations for SCs and the STs is not at odds with the principle of meritocracy. “Merit” must not be limited to narrow and inflexible criteria such as one’s rank in a standardised exam, but rather must flow from the actions a society seeks to reward, including the promotion of equality in society and diversity in public administration.In Chairman and Managing Director, Food Corporation of India v Jagdish Balaram Bahira, Justice Chandrachud affirmed the principle that a person who receives the benefit of public employment on the basis of a false caste certificate is not entitled to protection in exercise of the equitable power conferred upon Courts. Justice Chandrachud held that the “withdrawal of civil benefits flowed as a logical result of the validation of a claim to belong to a group or category for whom the reservation is intended” and that “the selection of ineligible persons is a manifestation of a systematic failure and has deleterious effects on good governance.” Observing that the governing state legislation explicitly specified the consequences of relying upon a false caste certificate, the Court held that recourse to the inherent powers of the Supreme Court under Article 142 would not be justified. In the same vein, Justice Chandrachud observed that where there was a statutory bar to conferring benefits on the basis of a false certificate, administrative circulars and government resolutions, being subservient to legislative mandate, would not be permitted to cure the defect of a false caste certificate. Justice Chandrachud has also authored opinions in several commercial disputes and emphasized the principles of certainty and objectivity in the area of commercial law. He rejected the challenge by Adani Gas Limited to the grant of authorisations for the construction and operation of consumer gas distribution networks in the state of Tamil Nadu. The dispute concerned the alleged addition of certain bidding criteria "after the last date for bidding". In upholding the decisions taken by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Justice Chandrachud noted that the   additional criteria had only been proposed by the regulator as an agenda item, but was never subsequently adopted.