Supreme Court Observer

🌿Good morning! 🧑🏻‍⚖️Today 9 judges will assemble to hear the second-oldest pending Constitution Bench decision in the Supreme Court. They will be deciding whether royalty paid by mine operators to the Union government is a form of tax. ⌨️ Filed in 1999, this case deals with typographical errors (did the Court really hold that “royalty is a tax”?) and the extent of Union and states powers over taxation of minerals. 🗒️ SCO’s case background helps you navigate the procedural maze in the lead-up to the hearings today! https://bit.ly/3TnzLWp

🌄 Good Morning! 👨‍⚖️ Last week, the Supreme Court Bar lost one of its most illustrious lawyers - Senior Advocate Fali Sam Nariman. He'd been involved in some of the most defining cases of the times. Here is our tribute: https://bit.ly/3Tc0XqY 📹 Earlier this month, the Supreme Court reserved judgement in the Aligarh Muslim University minority status case. Here’s a 5-minute video explainer on the key arguments in the case: https://bit.ly/4bPdEz0 🖐️ In February, a Constitution Bench reserved judgement on the validity of sub-classification within reservations for Scheduled Castes. Here are 5 articles that explore the various complexities of the issue: https://bit.ly/42OYlSR

🌤️ Good Morning! 🗳️ Last week, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held the Electoral Bond Scheme to be unconstitutional. 🔍 The Chief's majority judgement found that the Scheme violated a voter’s right to information. In his concurring opinion, Justice Sanjiv Khanna wrote that the Scheme provided a “cloak of secrecy” to curtail the voter’s right to know. 📜 This judgement is crucial not only because of its panoramic understanding of the right to information, but also beause it created the _double proportionality test_ to balance conflicting rights. 4️⃣ Here are four aspects that stood out to us in the Court’s judgement in the case: https://bit.ly/42RsaT4

🌿Good morning 🗳️ Yesterday, a Bench led by the Chief Justice declared AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar as the Mayor of Chandigarh. It also held the Presiding Officer accountable for ballot tampering and directed a show cause notice to be issued. https://bit.ly/49Ceb5q 🗣️ Today the Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the challenge against the practice of offering and distributing freebies during election campaigns. https://bit.ly/42KCD2k ⚖️ This case is one among the key election-related cases at the Supreme Court. Here are three others that are pending and one that was recently decided. https://bit.ly/4bvMInM

🌄 Good Morning! 🗓️ Today, the Supreme Court is scheduled to examine the ballot papers from the controversial Chandigarh mayoral election. In a widely circulated video, the Presiding Officer Anil Masih was seen adding an "X" mark on certain ballots. 🖋️ Yesterday, when CJI D.Y. Chandrachud questioned Masih regarding his actions in the video, Masih claimed that he was only highlighting papers that were already defaced. This led to CJI to ask: ❔ _“Where is your power to mark the papers?”_ 🗳️ Yesterday, the petitioners proposed a vote recount and the respondents urged for a re-election. The Court is expected to determine the next course of action today. https://bit.ly/3wjnAAx

🌩️ Good Morning! 🗳️ The Mayor of Chandigarh resigned yesterday. Today, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case concerning his controversial election to the post. *Here's what happened:* 🎦 The Presiding Officer was seen tampering with the ballot papers on camera. The Punjab & Haryana High Court had refused to grant interim relief to set aside the election. 📃 On 5 February 2024, the Supreme Court directed all records related to the election to be submitted for scrutiny. The Court also directed the Presiding Officer to be present in Court to "explain his conduct". https://bit.ly/3HLimjN _Case: Kuldeep Kumar v UT Chandigarh_

🎐 Good Morning! 🗳️ In one of its most consequential judgements ahead of the 2024 general elections, the Supreme Court has declared Electoral Bonds to be an unconstitutional Scheme. 💸 Yesterday, a 5-judge Constitution Bench unanimously held that voter's right to information cannot be curtailed to control black money. 💰 The Court has banned further issuance of electoral bonds and asked SBI to give details of electoral bonds purchased since 2019. We summarise the judgement here: https://bit.ly/49jQejU 📝 While CJI Chandrachud wrote 158 pages, Justice Sanjiv Khanna's 74 page judgement has found the scheme to be failing the 'proportionality test'. Find everything you need to know in a glance from our matrix here: https://bit.ly/4byrtSx

☀ Good Morning! 🪙 Today, a 5-judge Bench of the Supreme Court will decide if the 2018 Electoral Bonds Scheme is constitutional. The Scheme facilitates anonymous donations to political parties from individuals and companies. https://bit.ly/3Szyp9c 💰 The case raises issues of transparency in political funding and its effect on free and fair elections in India. With the 2024 General Elections around the corner, this judgement is highly awaited. https://bit.ly/3UGXMsm 💬 Follow SCObserver on X (Twitter) for live updates on the judgement! https://twitter.com/scobserver 📃 Stay tuned to our pronouncement report here: https://bit.ly/3uA2e1q

🍁 Good morning! 🔏 Last week, a 7-judge Bench reserved judgement on the issue of sub-classification within SC/ST reservations, a major chapter in the Court's journey with affirmative action. ☕ Start your morning with our hearing reports, uniquely capturing everything that was argued. On Day 1, petitioners argued that caste is not a homogenous category. We reported here: https://bit.ly/49AbEch 👥 On Day 2, petitioners further argued that there must be unequal treatment within reserved categories. Read here: https://bit.ly/3HTikWW 👨‍⚖ On Day 3, the Court talked about objective criteria to protect any sub-classification exercise from political influence. Read our report here: https://bit.ly/3OEcOLE

🌿Good morning! 🗳️The 2024 General Elections are around the corner and the Supreme Court has to decide a number of cases that could influence how political parties decide to strategise, campaign and fundraise. 🖐🏾Here are 5 election-related cases in the Court’s docket this year. https://bit.ly/4bvMInM 🪑Another case that will likely have an impact on the upcoming elections concerns the contentious topic of reservations. 🧑🏻‍⚖️Yesterday, the Supreme Court reserved judgement in a case that looks into whether sub-classification of SC/STs is constitutionally permissible and if states have the power to create these sub-classifications. Our reports are here https://bit.ly/3Sng3Ig

🍃 Good morning! 👨‍⚖ Today, Day 3 of arguments will continue on the validity of sub-classifications within reserved categories. https://bit.ly/3Sng3Ig ⚖️ A 7-Judge Bench led by CJI Chandrachud is reconsidering a 5-judge Bench decision in _EV Chinnaiah v State of AP_ which held that sub-classification was impermissible as the SC/STs were a "homogenous" group. https://bit.ly/4958IUR 🏳️‍🌈 After the 7-judge bench hearing, a 5-Judge Bench, also led by the Chief is scheduled to hear a curative petition against a 2013 Supreme Court judgement which reversed a Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising homosexuality under Section 377. In 2018, the Supreme Court itself struck down Section 377. Our explainer traces the evolution of the rights for sexual minorities across 4 landmark judgments: https://bit.ly/49ozdoc

☕ Good Morning! ⁉️ *Can states create sub classifications within the SC/ST reservation categories?* 7️⃣ Today, a seven-judge Constitution Bench is scheduled to commence hearings to answer this question. Here's everything you need to know about the case: https://bit.ly/3HLiakz ⚠️ *SC: We will not allow the murder of democracy.* 📃 Yesterday, in the controversy surrounding that recent mayoral elections in Chandigarh, the top court directed that _“the entire record pertaining to the selection of the Mayor of Chandigarh”_ be placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court immediately. 🗣️This Order comes in the aftermath of allegations that the Presiding Officer had tampered with the ballot papers. Here's a quick rundown of the case and hearing: https://bit.ly/3HLimjN

☀️ Good Morning! 📑At the end of 2023, the Supreme Court was saddled with 80,439 pending cases. Yet, we didn’t report that story with a tone of resignation because the Court’s disposal rate in recent times has been on a healthy trajectory. We sensed that this momentum would carry on in the months to come.  📈 Our hunch was correct, at least for January. The Court has managed to knock off another 218 cases from its pendency list. Pendency is now at 80,221. Not impressed? Our Court data piece explains why this is not so bad after all. https://bit.ly/49ldTQj 🏫Last week the Court completed 8 days of hearing in the case concerning Aligarh Muslim University’s minority status. Our case page has the whole story and detailed hearing reports. https://bit.ly/47thSZJ

🌻 Good Morning! 7️⃣ A 7-judge Constitution Bench reserved judgement in the case to determine if Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has a minority status under Article 30 of the Constitution. A minority status recognition will allow AMU to grant reservation for Muslim students. https://bit.ly/47thSZJ 🕌 Petitioners argued that AMU was traditionally administered by Muslims, a role diluted by the Union government in 1965. They claimed that the inclusion of non-minorities in the administration of AMU did not diminish its minority character. https://bit.ly/3vYZj2P 🗣️ The respondents had argued that AMU was constitutionally recognised as an institution of “national importance,” any modification to AMU’s character could only be made through a constitutional amendment. https://bit.ly/3ui1xtv

🍂 Good morning! 🎬 In November 2023, the Supreme Court reserved judgement in the Electoral Bonds case. SCO spoke to two transparency activists in Delhi, Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri about their work uncovering the electoral bonds scheme. 🔎 Bhardwaj and Johri touched upon voter rights and the application of the right to information regime on political parties. Read our interview here: https://bit.ly/49dBsdW 3⃣ Today, for the fourth time in 2024, activist Umar Khalid's bail application is listed before the top court. Yesterday, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal representing Khalid had informed the Bench of his unavailability today, due to the ongoing proceedings in the AMU minority status case: https://bit.ly/3RSjQNB

🍃Good Morning! 👨‍⚖️ Today, for the third time this month, a Division Bench of the the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear activist Umar Khalid's bail application from 2022. A recurring reason for multiple adjournments in the case has been the unavailability of lawyers involved on either side. See details here: https://bit.ly/3RSjQNB 🔍 Incidentally, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal who represents Khalid, also appears for one of the petitioners in the ongoing Constitution Bench hearings about Aligarh Muslim University's minority status. 🕌 Today, a seven-judge Constitution Bench will hear Day 7 of arguments to determine AMU's minority status. Catch up on yesterday's hearings here: https://bit.ly/4blhksj

🌇 Good Morning! 🗓️ Today, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear a suo motu petition arising out a dispute between two judges of the Calcutta High Court. 📑 The quarrel rose out of two conflicting orders from different benches of the Calcutta High Court in the same case. Notably, a single-judge bench levied accusations of political bias, procedural shortcomings, and legal misconduct towards a Division Bench and disregarded its previous Order. 🗣️ Concerned by the internal discord, a Special Bench led by the CJI convened last Saturday imposing a stay on all proceedings of the case in the Calcutta High Court. ❓Here’s everything you need to know about the case: https://bit.ly/47TjvjP

🇮🇳 Happy Republic Day! 🏛️ Today marks a momentous 75 years of the commencement of our Constitution and the beginning of the story of our Republic. 👨‍⚖ With the swearing in of Justice Prasanna B. Varale yesterday, the Supreme Court is once again at its full strength and slightly more diverse than before. Read more about Justice Varale and what his appointment means here: https://bit.ly/47VyWrv ✒️ The powers of the executive have expanded dangerously. Abhinav Sekhri tells the story of how the PMLA, an anti courruption law, has morphed to curb dissent and opposition in today's republic: https://bit.ly/3Udx36m

💫 Good Morning! 👨‍⚖️ Today, Justice Prasanna B. Varale will be sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court. His appointment brings the Court to its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges. 🏛️ He was previously the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court and is the 15th judge to be recommended by the Collegium led by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud. The Collegium factored in that Justice Varale was the seniormost judge belonging to the Scheduled Caste community. ⁉️ How does this appointment impact diversity at the Supreme Court? Read our profile of the Court in 2023 and find out: https://bit.ly/48QkQcB

🌸 Good morning! 🏫 Yesterday, the Court continued hearings in the challenges to Aligarh Muslim University’s minority status. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that Aligarh Muslim University chose to surrender its minority status when it bowed down to the British legislation establishing the institution under the Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920. Hearings will continue today. https://bit.ly/49384af 🛕 To give context to the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, SCO traced the near 500 year history of the land in this timeline. https://bit.ly/3Ss7Dkj 🗒️ Earlier this week, a Bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud framed issues in the case filed by the state of Punjab against the Union’s extension of the Border Security Force’s (BSF) jurisdiction in 2021. More here: https://bit.ly/3u4BSUW