Supreme Court Observer

☀️Good Morning! Big stories are expected from the Supreme Court in the coming days, as challenge to Abrogation of Article 370, defamation case against Rahul Gandhi and more key cases are being scheduled to be heard. Make sure to stay informed on the most crucial stories from the Supreme Court. Here’s what you can do! 💬 Big on Twitter (or should we say X)? Follow us now! We will be live reporting the Abrogation of Art. 370 case! https://bit.ly/3dXuuCU 📸 We’re also on Instagram, where we upload a video on the biggest story of the day and week. We tell you what happened at the Court and why it matters. Follow now! https://bit.ly/3Rnjzjr 📹 Our videos are also on YouTube! Subscribe to our channel, for updates and explainers! https://bit.ly/3RkL39u 📧 If you enjoy sitting back on a Sunday morning and reading a crisp newsletter on the highlight of the week, SCO’s Desk Briefs are for you. This weekly newsletter cuts through the clutter and tells our 12k subscribers the full story in the simplest way. bit.ly/429Yyye 🙏🏽 Thank you for following our daily updates, and for being an engaged, interested community of readers. Tell us what you would like to read/watch/listen to on the SC. Write to us at admin@scobserver.in. Hear from you soon!

🌞 Good Morning! 🪖The Supreme Court recently refused to direct deployment of the Indian Army or Paramilitary forces in Manipur. CJI D.Y. Chandrachud said that the Court had not 'given directions' to the armed forces in 70 years. Interestingly, precedents indicate that the top Court has directed the deployment of security forces to maintain law and order in the past. Read more: https://bit.ly/3KeSPAX 🤚Last week, the Supreme Court heard Rahul Gandhi's appeal against a Gujarat High Court judgement which refused to stay his conviction for defamation over the 'Modi surname' remark in 2019. The Supreme Court will hear the case on merits on August 4, 2023. Read more: https://bit.ly/3Dp70zx ⛓️Last week, a Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai granted bail to journalist Teesta Setalvad. The top Court quashed a Gujarat High Court judgement which rejected her bail and observed that the High Court's reasonings were perverse. Read more: https://bit.ly/3NU2RbM

☀️ Good morning! 🧑🏾‍⚖️ Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted bail to activist Teesta Setalvad who was accused of fabricating evidence to implicate top politicians in the 2002 Gujarat Riots, including the incumbent Prime Minister. The Bench described the Gujarat High Court Judgement which rejected Setalvad’s bail plea as 'perverse'. Read more: https://bit.ly/3NU2RbM 🚛 Today, the 5-Judge Constitution Bench led by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud will continue hearings to decide what the valid licence required to drive a ‘Transport Vehicle of Light Motor Vehicle Class’ is. More: https://bit.ly/3pNzksq 📊The Supreme Court of India hears arguments for 190 days a year, a significantly higher activity compared to its counterparts in countries like the USA, the UK and more. Where does the top Court stand? Read more: https://bit.ly/3Ol4wIF

🌅 Good Morning! 🚛 Today, a 5-Judge Constitution Bench led by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud will continue to hear arguments on the valid licence required to drive a ‘Transport Vehicle of Light Motor Vehicle Class’. More: https://bit.ly/3pNzksq ⚖️ Yesterday, the CJI-led Constitution Bench concluded hearings and reserved judgement in the challenge to altering the rules of a selection process for a public post after the process has begun. During the hearing, the Bench heard proposals from lawyers on how to ensure that rules are not altered arbitrarily. More: https://bit.ly/3DhVBBJ ✍️Thank you for following our daily updates. We'd love to hear from you on what you would like to cover next on the SC. Write to us at admin@scobserver.in.

☀️ Good Morning! 🖋️ Today the Supreme Court will continue to hear the challenge to appoint processes of various High Courts. Particularly, the Court is answering the question—can a public employer change the rules of eligibility or hiring, _during_ or _after_ the appointment process. More about the Case: https://bit.ly/43p24oP 🏛️ In the previous hearings, the Court heard arguments against the rules of each High Court separately and cleared the cases. The SC will hear arguments on the core constitutional question today. SCO’s Hearing Report: https://bit.ly/43qUDgU 📃 Yesterday the SC issued notice to the Union government in the challenge to the Ordinance that seized power from the elected Delhi government over services in Delhi. The Ordinance vests the power of administration of Delhi squarely in the Union government’s hands. https://bit.ly/3K4xIkG 🪑 According to the Court the case involves questions on the scope of Article 239AA, which may require a 5-Judge Bench to hear the case. Specifically, the Court will discuss—can the Parliament indirectly amend the Constitution using Article 239AA(7)? https://bit.ly/3DlBzpX

☀️ Good morning! ⚖️ On Friday, two new judges were sworn into the Supreme Court—Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S.V. Bhatti. With this, the sitting strength has increased to 32 judges. Profiles of all Judges at the SC here: https://bit.ly/43GPjGU 👨‍⚖️Justice Ujjal Bhuyan was a Judge of the Guwahati High Court between 2011 to 2019. He was transferred to the Bombay High Court in 2019 then to the Telangana High Courtin 2021. In June 2022, he was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. More: https://bit.ly/3NXwadq 👨‍⚖️Justice S.V. Bhatti was appointed to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in 2013. In June 2014, as Andhra Pradesh bifurcated, he served at the common High Court for the State of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In 2019, he became a Judge of the newly formed Andhra Pradesh High Court. Read more: https://bit.ly/3XRrL0h

☀️ Good Morning! 🖋️ Yesterday a 5-Judge Constitution Bench continued to hear a series of challenges against the rules introduced by various High Courts on appointment processes for public posts. Particularly, the Court is answering the question—can a public employer change the rules of eligibility or hiring, _during_ or _after_ the appointment process. https://bit.ly/43p24oP 📃 In Yesterday’s hearing, the Court heard arguments against the rules of each High Court separately and cleared the cases. Read SCO’s Report on the hearing here: https://bit.ly/43qUDgU 📧 The weekend is approaching, which means that it’s time for SCO’s weekly newsletter! Subscribe now to read highlights of the latest updates and the best stories from the Supreme Court, delivered straight to your inbox! https://bit.ly/46OXyTB

☕ Good Morning! 👨‍⚖️👨‍⚖️ Last night, the Union government notified the appointments of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan (Telangana HC) and Chief Justice S. Venkatanarayana Bhatti (Kerala HC) as judges to the Supreme Court. With these appointments, the total strength of the Supreme Court has increased to 32. ⚖️ Today, a 5-Judge Bench led by CJI Chandrachud will continue to hear petitions on whether the rules of appointments to public posts can be altered after the selection processes are initiated. Yesterday, the Bench decided to hear the petitions State-wise and finished hearings for the state of Kerala and Manipur. 📍The Court held that the Kerala High Court's Administrative Committee was wrong to change the rules in the appointment process for district judges in 2017. Find out why: https://bit.ly/44Ko131 🧾 The Bench reverted the case challenging the Manipur High Court’s 2015 resolution altering the selection process for district judge appointments to a 3-Judge Bench. Read more: https://bit.ly/3DaCppn 🗓️ Yesterday, the same Constitution Bench also postponed the hearings on the petition to decide if a person who is ineligible to be an arbitrator should be allowed to appoint one, to September 2023.

☀️ Good Morning! 🧑🏻‍⚖️ Today a new Constitution bench of the Court will begin hearing four cases. The cases address concerns about the appointment of arbitrators, the process of appointments in public posts, and road safety. SCO explains all the cases in brief: https://bit.ly/3COpjhi 👮🏽‍♂️ The Supreme Court upheld two of the Union's 2021 Amendments which permitted tenure extensions of CBI and ED Directors. The Petitioners argued that allowing the Union to interfere in these tenures would weaken the independence of these critical investigative agencies. What reasoning did the Court give for its decision? More here: https://bit.ly/3O8uFJN 📃 On Monday, the Manipur Government filed a status report on the law and order situation in the state. It outlined over 5000 incidents of arson and over 54,000 people seeking refuge in relief camps. However, the Manipur Government claimed that the state is ‘slowly returning to normalcy’. Report summary: https://bit.ly/3XPbitw

🌅 Good Morning! 📜 *Abrogation of Art. 370* Today, for the first time since 2020, 5 seniormost judges of the Supreme Court are expected to hear over 20 pleas challenging the Union's 2019 Orders which removed the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Art. 370 of the Constitution. The petitions also challenge the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 which divided the State into two Union Territories. https://bit.ly/3O5KqSD 🪖 *Manipur Violence* Today, parties challenging the army deployment in the State will present their suggestions to tackle the escalating tensions to the CJI. Yesterday, the Manipur Government submitted a 16-page status report detailing the steps taken to curb violence in the State. The Court instructed the parties to examine the report and provide their suggestions in response. https://bit.ly/3PLMwbB 🏛️ *Challenge to the Union’s ‘Delhi Service’ Ordinance* Yesterday, the SC heard the Aam Aadmi Party's challenge to the Union’s May 19th Ordinance that prohibits the Delhi government from making laws on services in Delhi. They claimed that the Ordinance breaches the Judgement which granted the Delhi government control over services in the NCTD https://bit.ly/3O6C9Ok

☀️ Good morning! 👨🏻‍⚖️ On July 8th, Justice Krishna Murari retired after 3.75 years at the Supreme Court. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in September 2019. With his retirement, the sitting strength of the SC is 30 judges. 📝 *Notable Judgements* Justice Krishna Murari authored 64 judgements during his tenure at the Supreme Court. He was a part of important Constitution Benches this year. Read his Notable Judgements: https://bit.ly/3NMA6xP 📈 *Tenure in Numbers* During his term, Justice Murari authored an average of 17 judgements per year in various subject matters. The number of judgements written by him, progressively increased each year. We analyse his tenure in numbers: https://bit.ly/3D8el6B ⚖️ Read more about his life and contributions to the SC here: https://bit.ly/3JMK8NW

🌅 Good morning! 📶 Yesterday, the SC dismissed a plea challenging the Internet Shutdown in Manipur. The petitioners requested to withdraw the petition, to approach the Manipur HC which was hearing a similar matter. Read more: https://bit.ly/3PL8mfE 📜 Yesterday, the SC listed Delhi Government's petition challenging the Union's Delhi Ordinance on July 10th. In May 2023, the Union issued an Ordinance effectively contradicting the SC Constitution Bench Judgement which seized control of the Delhi Governments Power Over 'services' in NCT Delhi. Read more: https://bit.ly/44dww6M ✍️Thank you for following our daily updates. We'd love to hear from you about what you would like to read/ watch/listen to on the SC. Write to us at admin@scobserver.in. Hear from you soon!

🌅 Good Morning! 👨‍⚖️ Yesterday the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Telangana HC and Chief Justice S. Venkatanarayana Bhatti of the Kerala HC to be elevated to the SC. It remains to be seen how quickly the Union will accept these recommendations. 🗺️ If the recommendations are accepted by the Union, Justice Bhatti will be the only Judge at the SC whose parent HC is the Andhra Pradesh HC. Currently, the SC does not have judges from 9 out of the 25 HCs across the country. https://bit.ly/3CROyzh 👩‍⚖️ Collegium recommendations have consistently emphasised gender diversity as a criteria. However, the last time a woman was appointed to the SC was in August, 2021. With hardly any senior women judges in India's HCs, gender diversity at the SC will likely take a hit in the future. https://bit.ly/3NW6JKB 🪑The SC has largely been a man's world. In 73 years, there have been 268 SC Judges. Of these, only 11 have been women. With 3 more retirements this year, the SC Collegium's dedication to ensuring gender diversity will be displayed by how it chooses to fill these vacancies. https://bit.ly/3pB9eIU

☀️ Good Morning! 🪙 In a money laundering case yesterday, Sr. Adv. Harish Salve argued that the wide *powers given to the Enforcement Directorate* must be curbed—else ‘no one is safe in the country’. In July 2022, a 3-Judge Bench upheld all the wide investigative powers of the ED in money laundering cases. https://bit.ly/3zbQS1J. 💰Last year, the Bench was hearing challenges to several provisions of the *Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002*. These provisions reversed the criminal law assumption of ‘innocent until proven guilty’, allowed the ED wide search and seizure powers, and gave it powers akin to the police, without the checks and balances imposed on them. It also made it very difficult for persons charged under the PMLA to get bail. Arguments in the case are here: https://bit.ly/3r6deBu 🧺 A Bench led by Justice Khanwilkar upheld all provisions, citing that broad *powers of the ED and stringent bail conditions were necessary to counter the heinous crime of money laundering*. https://bit.ly/44z5Gpx 📄 A *review petition* has since been filed at the SC. The Court as agreed to review the case on 2 questions, one of them being the *reversed presumption of innocence* of the accused. More here: https://bit.ly/3D0ByaM

🌅 Good morning! ⚖️ Yesterday, the SC listed the Challenge to the Abrogation of Article 370 before a new 5-Judge Constitution Bench led by CJI Chandrachud. The matter is listed on July 11th, 2023. The Bench will decide the constitutionality of the Presidential orders that removed the special status of Jammu & Kashmir. Read more about the case here: https://bit.ly/3rdF1QE 🪖 Yesterday, a 3-Judge Bench led by CJI Chandrachud ordered the State of Manipur to file a fresh status report detailing the present situation of Manipur. The Bench was hearing a plea filed by the Manipur Tribals' Forum seeking Army Deployment to restore law and order in Manipur. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3r55Bey ✍️Thank you for following our daily updates. We'd love to hear from you about what you would like to read/ watch/listen to on the SC. Write to us at admin@scobserver.in. Hear from you soon!

☕ Good Morning! 🗃️ The SC reopens today after 6-weeks of summer vacation. On its docket this term are judgements in key Constitution Bench cases, and important hearings on matters ranging from communal violence to arbitration laws and much more. The SC is also equipped with new technological advancements to increase efficiency in operations. Read more: https://bit.ly/3PNehR0 🗓️ In June, the SC announced a new 5-Judge Constitution Bench displaying its continued dedication to uphold it's role as a Constitutional Court. The month also saw the retirement of 3 judges. This brings the sitting strength of the SC to 31 out of the sanctioned strength of 34. Read more: https://bit.ly/3JDH6LS 👨‍⚖️👩‍⚖️The SC currently has 3 sitting women judges. With 3 vacancies and 3 more retirements later this year, it remains to been seen how the SC Collegium will ensure gender diversity at the Court, considering none of the HCs have a female Chief Justice at the moment. Read more: https://bit.ly/3NW6JKB

☀️ Good Morning! 🇮🇳 With Justice Ramasubramanian’s retirement, the SC has a strength of 31 Judges, out of the sanctioned strength of 34. Will the Court consider regional diversity in appointing new judges? With 9/25 High Courts seeing no representation at the SC, this may be crucial. Read more on regional diversity here: https://bit.ly/3CROyzh 📚 The SC’s summer vacation comes to an end next week. Our Court Data shows us that the year started out strong for the SC with improving pendency numbers—a phenomenon that is atypical in the first half of the year. Read more: https://bit.ly/444HPhk 📽️ Have you watched the latest episode of SCO Explains? In this episode, we introduce to you the Next 8 Chief Justices of India. One of them will the first woman Chief Justice we have ever had! And only 2 of 8 judges will have a tenure of more than one year! https://youtu.be/bWiyO9likvU

☀️ Good morning! 👨🏻‍⚖️ Justice V. Ramasubramanian was elevated to the SC on September 23rd, 2019 and retires today after 3.75 years at the SC. With his retirement, the sitting strength of the SC is 31 judges. 📝 *Notable Judgements* Justice Ramasubramanian authored 102 judgements during his tenure at the Supreme Court, and was a part of leading Constitution Benches. Read his Notable Judgements here: https://bit.ly/46sfR0B 📈 *Tenure in Numbers* During his term, Justice Ramasubramanian authored an average of 27.7 judgements per year in a variety of subject matters. The number of benches he was a part of, increased every year. We analyse his tenure in numbers: https://bit.ly/3Jy7AhO ⚖️ Read more about his life and contributions to the SC here: https://bit.ly/3pzdJ6F

🌅 Good Morning! 👨‍⚖️CJI D.Y. Chandrachud will retire in November 2024. After him, if the seniority principle is applied, India will have 8 CJIs including the first woman CJI between 2024 and 2031. Find out who they are: http://surl.li/inczv 📊 The average tenure of the next 8 CJIs is 298 days (around 8 months). Only 2 out of the next 8 CJIs are expected to have tenures of more than 1 year. We analyse their expected tenures here: http://surl.li/ineay ⚖️ The SC has had only 10 judges directly elevated from the Bar. Did you know these judges serve a longer tenure at the SC compared to other judges? Read more: http://surl.li/inehw

☀️Good morning! 🪑 Yesterday the Supreme Court announced a new 5-Judge Constitution Bench. Led by the Chief Justice, this Bench will hear 1 case on selection process for a public post, 2 cases on arbitration and 1 case concerning valid licenses for transport vehicles. Here’s SCO’s explainer: https://bit.ly/3COpjhi 📚 The Court’s Constitution Bench activity has skyrocketed compared to previous year. This year so far the SC has heard 16 Constitution bench cases. Our Court Data gives a snapshot of the Courts activities: https://bit.ly/3qYP5Nf 💻 The SC will return from its summer vacation in one week. Make sure to follow SCO to keep up with the latest from the Supreme Court of India! https://www.scobserver.in/