Was it improper for Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to accept an Award for Global Leadership from the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession

On 11th January 2023, the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession presented Chief Justice DY Chandrachud with the Award for Global Leadership. 

See https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/legal-profession-feudalistic-unwelcoming-of-women-marginalised-communities-cji-chandrachud-speaks-about-his-harvard-law-thesis-more-218725

An unpopular opinion 

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud should have refused to accept the award. Such awards can be viewed as interfering with the independence of the Judiciary. A sitting Judge should never accept any award whether from the Government or from a private entity. Why should the Chief Justice of India accept an award from a foreign entity? Why would Harvard Law School confer the award at this time when Justice Chandrachud has assumed the Office of the Chief Justice of India, and with almost two years to go before he retires? The Office of the Chief Justice of India does not exist to provide "Global Leadership". A US Supreme Court Judge would never accept such an award. 

The Government of India through the President's Office should have advised Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud to not accept the award. 

In 2018, then Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Gita Mittal was awarded the "Nari Shakti Puraskar" by the Government of India through the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Justice Gita Mittal was criticized by several lawyers for accepting this award as it was seen as potentially interfering with her independence as a Judge. Gita Mittal was the first sitting Judge in India to receive an award from the Government of India. See https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/mar/09/experts-slam-nari-shakti-puraskar-award-for-delhi-high-court-judge-gita-mittal-1784270.html

The Government of India having awarded Justice Gita Mittal as a sitting Judge created a bad precedent which perhaps has led to its silence on Chief Justice Chandrachud in accepting an award from Harvard University. 

Another Judge who has accepted an 'Honor' from a private entity and that too a foreign entity is Justice Pratibha Singh of the Delhi High Court. Justice Pratibha Singh was elected to and accepted an honorary fellowship of Hughes Hall College of Cambridge University in 2022. Such an affiliation by a sitting Judge might again be viewed as improper with the potential to affect her independence as a Judge. See https://www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/news/hughes-hall-announces-new-honorary-fellows/