Supreme Court Observer

🍵 Good Morning! ⚖️ The Supreme Court recently held that the Speaker of a legislature does not enjoy constitutional immunity when deciding anti-defection petitions under the Tenth Schedule. 📍 The Court invoked the doctrine of quia timet to justify imposing a three-month timeline on the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide 10 disqualification petitions. Yet, it stopped short of going the _Rajendra Singh Rana_ way, where it had directly disqualified defecting MLAs. Read our latest newsletter for more: http://bit.ly/458nSba 📜 The ruling signals a crucial reaffirmation of judicial oversight over anti-defection proceedings. Here's what happened in the case: http://bit.ly/3JhQVSk

🌄 Good Morning! 📜 Yesterday, the SC directed the Speaker of the Telangana Assembly to decide a disqualification petition against 10 MLAs within three months. The Court held that a Speaker does not enjoy immunity when acting as an adjudicating authority: https://bit.ly/3Hd3duM 👮 On 6 August, the Court is scheduled to hear a review petition challenging its 2022 verdict in 'Vijay Madanlal', which upheld the ED's wide arresting powers under the PMLA. The Court has narrowed down the issues: https://bit.ly/4mnLL5Q 🏭 Yesterday, the Court admitted a petition seeking review of its order to liquidate Bhushan Steel and Power. In a commentary, Srinivas Kotni noted that the verdict had created a lot of uncertainty among investors: http://bit.ly/4lKSA0P

🌞 Good Morning! ⚖️ Today, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a review petition against its judgement from May which unravelled JSW Steel’s ₹19,700 crore acquisition of Bhushan Power under the Insolvency Code. In our Commentary, Srinivas Kotni argues that the ruling undermined commercial wisdom: http://bit.ly/4lKSA0P 👨🏻‍⚖️ Yesterday, the Court reserved judgement in Justice Yashwant Varma's plea challenging the in-house committee's findings of his guilt after wads of cash were discovered at his official Delhi residence in March: https://bit.ly/4o93gbz 📽️ In our latest video we summarise the Court's recent move to extend reservations to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees within its own administrative ranks: https://bit.ly/4fpRiGD

🌅 Good Morning! 👨🏻‍⚖️ Today, the Court is scheduled to continue hearing Justice Yashwant Varma’s challenge to the in-house committee’s finding of misconduct. ⚖️ Filed as _XXX v Union of India_, the petition challenges the legality of the committee’s report and questions the 'media trial' that took place in its wake: http://bit.ly/45fkfAp 📱 The Pegasus spyware matter may also see movement today. Petitions alleging state-sponsored surveillance remain pending and the petitioners seek disclosure of a committee’s full findings. More in our case background: http://bit.ly/4l9qtaZ 5️⃣ Don’t miss the latest issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports. We’ve summarised five key judgments from last week: http://bit.ly/4faKbS9

🌳 Good Morning! ⚖ Today, a Special Bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai is scheduled to hear the Presidential Reference concerning the powers of the Governor and President while granting assent to bills. In the previous hearing, the Court issued notice to all state governments and the Union: https://bit.ly/3IXbnry 💳 Yesterday, the Court heard the challenge to the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Even as the Court refused to stay the exercise, it reiterated its suggestion to the Election Commission to consider the Aadhaar card as a valid document: https://bit.ly/3UwPBgW 5️⃣ Don't miss our latest Issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports. We selected and summarised five most important judgments from last week: http://bit.ly/4faKbS9

🌕 Good Evening! 📝 The Supreme Court is back in the swing of things after its return from the summer break. While the headlines were dominated by the Presidential Reference and Justice Varma’s petition against the in-house committee’s report, it was also a week when the Court delivered 22 new judgements. 5️⃣ We cover five key ones in this final July Issue of the Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR). The verdicts cover topics as diverse as perverse bail orders, the doctrine of merger, the presumption of validity of a Will, admissibility of a second FIR quashing application and mental health in educational institutions. Read here: http://bit.ly/4faKbS9 📋 You can also find these judgements in HTML format on the SCO.LR page: https://bit.ly/4miVoTb

✨ Good Morning! 👨🏻‍⚖️ Today, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Justice Yashwant Varma's plea against the legality of the in-house committee's report. Parliament is expected to discuss his impeachment in the Monsoon Session: https://bit.ly/4mj4U92 📄 His petition challenges the in-house committee's finding of his guilt. The committee report had concluded that he had "tacit or active control” of the store room where wads of cash were found. More here: https://bit.ly/4llTTDq ⚖️ The Court's decision on the petition is unlikely to influence removal proceedings in Parliament. Previous instances suggest that the Inquiry Committee constituted by Parliament will arrive at its own findings. Here are some examples: https://bit.ly/4jtrs5x

🌿 Good Morning! 🗳️ Today is the deadline for voters in Bihar to submit ennumeration forms as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. The exercise was challenged in the Supreme Court earlier this month: https://bit.ly/44yvFif 🗣️ The ECI shared that over 98% voters have submitted their forms. Petitioners had argued that the SIR reverses the burden of proving eligibility on voters and risks disenfranchising lakhs of people months before the assembly election: http://bit.ly/44C828v 📬 In a previous edition of our newsletter, we covered how the Court reiterated its inclination to trust the ECI in this case while also offering some friendly advice: https://bit.ly/3TAkm4j

🌻 Good Morning! 👨🏻‍⚖️ Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar resigned from office earlier this week citing health concerns. What happens next? 📙 While the Constitution provides for the election of a new VP, it does not provide for an Acting Vice President. The Constituent Assembly debates offer insight into why such a vacuum was contemplated and permitted: http://bit.ly/3TVFnqk 📱 Tomorrow, the Karnataka High Court is expected to resume hearing X Corp’s (formerly Twitter) challenge to government-issued take-down orders under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act. 🎙️Relying on the top court’s ruling in _Shreya Singhal v Union of India_, X contends that only Section 69A empowers the government to block online content: http://bit.ly/40v6JHp

🌿 Good Morning! ⚖️ Yesterday, a Special Bench of five judges gathered in Court 1 to lay out the next steps for the Presidential Reference on the powers of Governors and the President while granting assent to bills. 🏛️ The Court issued notice to all state governments and listed the case for next week. More here: https://bit.ly/3IXbnry 📜 President Draupadi Murmu referred a total of 14 questions to the Supreme Court invoking its advisory jurisdiction under Article 143. The Reference came in the aftermath of th Court's judgement in the _TN Governor case_: https://bitly.cx/ciC3K 🔎 Did the Reference ask any questions not already answered by the Supreme Court? We explore here: https://bit.ly/43ola0m

📰 Good Morning! ⚖️ Today, a Special Bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai will hear the Presidential Reference on the powers of Governors and the President while granting assent to state bills: https://bit.ly/3GzWuuM 🔎 The Reference follows the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Tamil Nadu Governor case, where the Governor’s indefinite delay on 10 bills was declared “illegal” and “erroneous.” Our judgement summary: https://bitly.cx/ciC3K 📘 What are the 14 questions referred by the President? Has the Court already addressed them? Find out: https://bit.ly/43ola0m 📖 Senior Advocate M.R. Shamshad argues that the Reference may amount to litigation of settled questions. Read here: https://bit.ly/3Teghm7

🌆 Good Evening! The Supreme Court had a productive start after its 7-week break from full-time operation. The top court delivered 56 new judgements in its first week back (goodbye bonus cases!) We’ve identified 5 important cases for this Issue of Supreme Court Observer Law Reports (SCO.LR). You can access these judgements in HTML format on the SCO.LR page. Here you go! https://bit.ly/40wihdn Did we miss a case which you thought should have been in SCO.LR? Write to us at admin@scobserver.in!

☀️Good Morning! 🏛️ After seven weeks of working partially, the Supreme Court resumed full functioning last week. In just its first week back, the Court delivered over 50 judgements. We bring you highlights: https://bit.ly/4lELUlt 👮🏻‍♂️ Today, the Court is scheduled to hear a suo moto case on summons issued by enforcement agencies to counsel. We looked at the Court's stance in previous matters here: https://bit.ly/3TUU3pn 📜 With over 100 MPs backing the motion, Parliament is expected to take up Justice Varma’s impeachment this Monsoon Session. How many times has this happened before? Read our explainer: http://bit.ly/4lDvfhX 🗨️ Lastly, read our half-yearly review of the Court’s free speech jurisprudence: http://bit.ly/4eZpo4b

🌿 Good Morning! 🏛️ Does a High Court need to overrule a judgement from its own stables when the Supreme Court has already done so? 📙Article 141 of the Constitution makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts. 👨🏻‍⚖ But, in _Shashank Gupta v State of UP_, Justice Deshwal of the Allahabad High Court referred a question to a nine-judge Bench of the High Court, even though the Supreme Court had ruled otherwise decades earlier. 🔎 The reason? A seven-judge Bench decision of the Allahabad High Court has not been explicitly overruled. ⚖️ The reference may be an endeavour to ensure judicial discipline, but was it really necessary? Read: https://bit.ly/4m11iYU

🍵 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