Supreme Court Observer

🍵 Good Morning! 📱 In May 2025, the Supreme Court set aside an order of the Delhi High Court which had directed Wikimedia to take down a Wikipedia page detailing a defamation suit between Asian News Network and the company. ⚖️ In doing so, the top court reiterated the principles of open justice and the right to access information: https://bit.ly/40piAqq 📰 In our latest immersive analysis, we explored the Court's approach to the freedom of press and found that it has at times fallen short of preventing covert forms of censorship: http://bit.ly/40YpPpp 💬 Earlier this month, we traced the court's polyvocal approach to adjudication and how it has added uncertainty to its position on free speech: https://bit.ly/4nAzTyQ

🌞 Good Morning! 📰 India ranked 151 out of 180 in RSF’s 2025 Press Freedom Index. Has the judiciary done enough to safeguard press freedom? We found that while the Court has offered relief in individual cases, it has often failed to resist broader patterns of press control: http://bit.ly/40YpPpp 📜 SCO.LR, our one-of-a-kind law reporter, is now fully updated with 130 key Supreme Court judgments from 2025 so far. Access them all here: https://bit.ly/3IBLpcX ⚖️ Our latest issue of SCO.LR covers rulings on the prosecution’s burden to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, limits of legislative immunity from judicial review and much more: https://bit.ly/44L2qsS

🍃Good Morning! 📄 Earlier this year, we introduced the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR). Our aim was to identify and summarise five key judgements of the Supreme Court each week and make them easily accessible in HTML formats. 📜 We are delighted to announce that our one of a kind law reporter is now fully updated with 130 significant judgements of the year so far. 🔎 What's more? You can copy and link individual paragraphs from judgements. You can also find mind maps and focussed key phrases to assist your research. 🌐 So check out 130 SCO.LR judgements on our page here: https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/ 🖊️ Here’s a link to our latest Issue of SCO.LR: https://bit.ly/44L2qsS

🌆 Good evening! We bring you Volume 7 Issue 2 of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR). For this edition, the final one before the full court returns from the summer break, we have shortlisted five more bonus cases from January to May 2025. In this issue, we look at Supreme Court judgements on the prosecution’s obligation to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the lack of immunity from judicial review for legislative decisions and more: https://bit.ly/44L2qsS We’re delighted to share that the list of SCO.LR back issues have now been fully updated for the year so far. With this Issue, our SCO.LR page currently hosts 130 significant Supreme Court decisions from 2025. From clarifying procedural questions to laying down fresh constitutional principles, many of these rulings shape the Court’s future jurisprudence: https://bit.ly/3GINbbO If SCO.LR has been a useful companion in your work over the past weeks or months, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note at admin@scobserver.in.

🌳 Good Morning! 🏫 The Supreme Court returns from its Summer Break today, with the full court resuming work. 📬 Last week, the Court heard the challenge against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, months before assembly elections. In our newseltter, we looked at how the Court has responded in matters concerning the ECI's independence: https://bit.ly/3TAkm4j 🗳 What happened in the hearing?: http://bit.ly/44C828v 📚 What's at stake?: http://bit.ly/44GFrii 🗣 Today, the Court is scheduled to take up the matter concerning state bills which are pending assent by the Governor of Kerala. In the previous hearing, the Kerala government wished to withdraw the petition. This was contested by the Union: https://bit.ly/44rEADR

🌞 Good Morning! 🗳️ Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard petitions challenging the ECI’s Special Intensive Revision in Bihar. Petitioners argued it could disenfranchise lakhs. The ECI called the concerns “speculative” and defended the process under Art. 326. Hearing report: http://bit.ly/44C828v 📚 Want more context on the matter? Read our case background to understand what’s at stake: http://bit.ly/44GFrii 📲 We covered the hearing live. Follow @SCObserver on X for real-time updates of key hearings: http://bit.ly/40c94H6 ⚖️ In May, an SC verdict unravelled JSW Steel’s ₹19,700 crore acquisition of Bhushan Power under the Insolvency Code. Srinivas Kotni argues that the ruling undermined commercial wisdom: http://bit.ly/4lKSA0P

🍃 Good Morning! 🗳️ Today, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, months before the state goes to assembly polls. Our case background summarises everything you need to know: https://bit.ly/44yvFif ⛓️In the first half of 2025 we found that two contrasting tendencies emerged in the Court’s treatment of cases on bail. What are these patterns? Find out in our half yearly review: https://bit.ly/4nLLUl8 📜 You can find many of these judgements in clean HTML formats on the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR) page here: https://bit.ly/3IBLpcX 🔎 Stay tuned for more half-yearly reviews that thematically breakdown the Court's work!

🌷Good Morning! 🗳️ Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will take up petitions challenging the ECI’s Special Intensive Revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls. Our case background summarises everything you need to know, including why petitioners find the exercise unconstitutional: https://bit.ly/44yvFif 🏛️ In June, the Court announced reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the direct recruitment and promotion of its own non-judicial staff. Our desk brief is about how an institution that directs others to uphold constitutional mandates has turned the gaze inward: https://bit.ly/3Iu4zS0 7️⃣ Have you read the latest issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR)? If you haven't, here is Volume 7 Issue 1: https://bit.ly/44XeCa7

🌿 Good Morning! 🗓️ The first Issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR) for July is here! 🔎 Does the CrPC apply to fiscal laws? How is seniority calculated when government employees request transfers? What is the degree of liability on school management committees when an instance of child sexual abuse takes place on campus? 📜 Judgements in this Issue of SCO.LR answers all these questions and more. Read now: https://bit.ly/44XeCa7 📄All judgements are also available in easily accessible HTML versions. Read here: https://bit.ly/46fxFyH 📉 This Issue brings you five bonus judgements from January to May as the Court is currently in its Partial Working Days. We tracked how many days the Court will work this year: https://bit.ly/44kJEbw

🌆 Good Evening! 📜We bring you *Volume 7 Issue 1* of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR). This is the first Issue of SCO.LR for July 2025. ✋🏻This week, we have shortlisted more bonus cases from January to May 2025. ⚖️ In this issue, we will look at the Court’s emphasis on the right to a fair and unbiased hearing, the application of the CrPC to fiscal laws, its calculation of seniority when government employees request transfers, the liability of school management committees when an instance of child sexual abuse takes place on campus, and lastly, the importance of proof when accusing a public servant of taking a bribe. 🔍 Read now: https://bit.ly/44XeCa7 👓 Also read all the judgements in HTML here: https://bit.ly/46fxFyH

🌸 Good Morning! “The Supreme Court has delivered several landmark judgements on affirmative action, and as an institution, it had to apply it. Our actions must reflect our principles.” 👨‍⚖️ This was CJI Gavai after the Court formally introduced a reservation policy for the direct appointment and promotion of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) employees in its own staff. 📬 Our weekly newsletter takes off from the recently released roster which implements SC/ST reservation in the Court's non-judicial staff: https://bit.ly/3Iu4zS0 🪑Last year, the Court reiterated the need for substantive equality by recognising sub-classifications within the SC and ST categories. Our judgement summary: https://bit.ly/3Wqi5cE

🌞Good Morning! 👩🏻‍⚖️ On 25 June, the Supreme Court stayed a police summons to a lawyer in Ahmedabad. The matter will now go to the CJI to decide the scope of judicial oversight in cases where lawyers are summoned by law enforcement bodies for discharging professional duties: http://bit.ly/3TUU3pn 🎤 The Court condemned the extra-judicial ban on 'Thug Life', yet imposed a gag order on a university professor from speaking on Operation Sindoor. Earlier, it quashed an FIR against an MP for a poem. Does this reflect inconsistency in its stance on free speech?: https://bit.ly/4nAzTyQ ⚖️ As the Full Court resumes on 14 July, all eyes are on the interim stay in the Waqf Amendment case. Our video breaks down the arguments: https://bit.ly/3I9MV5Y

🌼 Good Morning! 🎥 Recently, the Supreme Court remarked that the extra-judicial ban on the film 'Thug Life' in Karnataka was contrary to the rule of law and the freedom of speech. 👨🏻‍🏫 In May, even as the Court granted bail to Prof. Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested for online posts concerning Operation Sindoor, it restrained him from making any posts, articles, or oral speech related to the military operation. 🗣️ In March, the Court quashed an FIR against MP Imran Pratapgarhi for reciting an Urdu poem that allegedly promoted enmity between communities. ⚖️ Do these three cases highlight inconsistencies of a polyvocal court? Where does the top court stand on free speech? We explore: https://bit.ly/4nAzTyQ

🌻 Good Morning! 📹 Have you subscribed to SCO's YouTube channel yet? We publish videos weekly: http://www.youtube.com/@supremecourtobserver 📡 Last week, we published a video on a Judgement that permits taxation of DTH providers. The Court held that the Union and states can levy service and entertainment tax respectively: https://bit.ly/40tbbGn 🧪 We also broke down a recent Judgement that deals with an accused's right to demand a narco-analysis test: https://bit.ly/4nsydao 🕌 With the full Court back in action next week, all eyes are on the interim stay in the Waqf Amendment Act case. Our video summarises key arguments: https://bit.ly/3I9MV5Y 🎙 No time to watch? Check out our podcast, perfect for listening on the go: https://bit.ly/4lFJZg5

🎑 Good evening! Today, we bring you Volume 6, Issue 4 of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR). This is the final Issue of SCO.LR for June 2025. Last week the Court did not deliver any judgements as it was on its partial working days. So, we bring you an additional 5 judgements from each month of the year, from January to May: https://www.scobserver.in/journal/sco-lr-2025-volume-6-issue-4/ Can a company be sued as a State? Can a person be acquitted because he had no motive to commit a crime? Is registration enough to transfer the title of a property? The judgements in this Issue answer all these questions and more. Catch them all in HTML format in the link below. Happy reading! https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/

🌼 Good Morning! 🗓️ 25 June marked 50 years since Indira Gandhi’s Congress government advised the President to proclaim the Emergency. ⚖️ The period left deep scars on the judiciary, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Collegium system of appointing judges in the 1990s. More in our latest newsletter: https://bit.ly/4nrdx2p 📜 A month after the Supreme Court decided the dispute between the State of Tamil Nadu and the Governor of the state, the President of India referred 14 questions to the Court under its advisory jurisdiction in Article 143. 🗣️ In our latest commentary, Senior Advocate M.R. Shamshad argues that the reference amounts to relitigation: https://bit.ly/3Teghm7

🍂 Good Morning! This week marks 50 years since the Emergency, a dark chapter in India's political and legal history. We've published a package of stories to mark the occasion. 🏛️ A timeline of the gradual expansion of Art 21, which guarantees the right to life & personal liberty, by the Supreme Court. The right was infamously suspended by the Court in an Emergency-era case: https://bit.ly/4k8oDqt ⛓️ A commentary where Prof V. Krishna Ananth argues that attempts to reform Article 22, which justifies preventive detention laws, are cosmetic: https://bit.ly/44moklV 🔍 An article where Ravi Nair of the South Asia HR Documentation Centre suggests there isn't much to celebrate of the SC's track record since 'ADM Jabalpur': https://bit.ly/3FTSRiZ

🌅 Good Morning! 📊 The Court is currently observing its Partial Working Days. It has often been criticised for its long vacations. We examine the trend in our latest data story: https://bit.ly/44kJEbw ⚖️ On 28 April 1976, in a 4:1 majority, the Supreme Court upheld the suspension of fundamental rights during the Emergency in _ADM Jabalpur._ Ravi Nair learnt of the judgement while imprisoned in Tihar jail’s Ward 13. Read his reflections on the period 50 years later: https://bit.ly/3FTSRiZ 📜 In the latest Issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR), we bring you five bonus judgements from Jan–May 2025. Read here: bit.ly/4kSbYst

🌅 Good Morning! ⚖️ Today marks 50 years since Indira Gandhi's government declared the Emergency. The period between 25 June 1975 and 21 March 1977 saw the suspension of fundamental rights and civil liberties. 🗣️ What has changed since then? Not much, argues Ravi Nair, executive director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre. His article: https://bit.ly/3FTSRiZ 🚨 Stay tuned for more reflections on the Emergency and its lasting impact on the right to life, judicial appointments and more. 📜 Have you read the lastest Issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports? In this Issue, we bring you five bonus judgements from January to May 2025. Read now: https://bit.ly/4kSbYst

🌌 Good Morning! 🧪 Earlier this month, the Supreme Court clarified that an accused does not have an indefeasible right to voluntarily undergo a narco-analysis test. They may request it at an appropriate stage of the trial: https://bit.ly/4lo0WeF 5️⃣ As the Court is observing Partial Working Days, no decisions were delivered last week. For the latest Issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR), we bring you five standout bonus judgements from January to May 2025: https://bit.ly/4kSbYst 📝 Last month, the Supreme Court reserved judgement on petitions seeking an interim stay on several provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025. Our argument matrix breaks down the key submissions: https://bit.ly/3FLWc3z