🌞 Good Morning!

📰 Before going on vacation, the SC witnessed a flurry of activity on several fronts in the month of May. These include 4 Constitution Bench decisions, new Judges, the conclusion of hearings in key cases affecting marriage rights, and independent investigative bodies. Read more: https://bit.ly/3MXHUwb

⚖️ Constitution Bench (CB) activity, this year, proceeded with gusto with the SC having conducted 55 CB proceedings in just 5 months (https://bit.ly/43qCWzb). The SC delivered 4 CB decisions in May alone. (https://bit.ly/3J2Klwd)

👨‍⚖️ Justices M.R. Shah and Dinesh Maheshwari retired. Their vacancies were filled in with uncommon speed with the Union accepting the Collegium's new recommendations in just 2 days. The result? The elevations of Justices K.V. Vishwanathan (https://bit.ly/3WRlfGr) and P.K. Mishra (https://bit.ly/3X9opWh) to the SC.

☕ Good Morning!

🎖️Yesterday, a Vacation Bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal heard a plea seeking the reinstatement of an Army Officer who was dismissed for 'disgraceful conduct' under S.46 of the Army Act, 1950.

🗣️ The Counsel for the Office informed the Court that the Officer was dismissed for being in a consensual homosexual relationship. The case will be heard next on Monday, May 12th, 2023.

📜 Constitution Benches of the SC have decriminalised homosexuality in 2018 (bit.ly/43QMgMg) and Adultery in 2019 (https://bit.ly/3oRInrE) as crimes under the IPC. These offences often qualify as 'conduct unbecoming' under various Military enactments.

🏛️ The Union govt. sought clarification on whether the Adultery judgement applied to persons of the Armed forces as they were a 'class apart'.

👨‍⚖️ Earlier this year, a Constitution Bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph clarified the while decriminalising adultery, the Court was not concerned with the Military enactments. It remains to be seen how these Constitution Bench decisions will impact instances where Army personnel are involved.
(https://bit.ly/43QMaUU)

☕ Good Morning!

🗓️ One month after the SC’s judgement on the Shiv Sena rift, the Thackeray faction leader Mr. Sanjay Raut has threatened returning to the Court. The reason? Disqualification proceedings against rebel MLAs has still not begun. This may be unsurprising to many, as the Judgement in this case has been criticised for having no ground impact on Maharashtra political landscape. More here: https://bit.ly/43vSeT2

⚖️ On Friday, the SC held that the Bar Council of India's (BCI) can make rules for advocates enrolling in any State Bar Council. Justices Vikram Nath and PV Sanjay Kumar relied on the recent Constitution Bench judgement which upheld the BCI's power to conduct the All India Bar Examination (AIBE). Read SCO's report here on the judgement here: https://bit.ly/3Cox1yz

✍️Thank you for following our daily updates. Check out our YouTube channel for video updates, explainers and more! https://youtube.com/@supremecourtobserver

🌞 Good Morning!

*Are the SC’s Vacations Too Long?*

🗃️ The SC’s vacations, around 10 weeks each year, have been widely criticised. Viewed through the lens of the Court’s daunting pending caseload, these fears may seem valid. However, insight into a judge’s work schedule paints a different picture. Read more: https://bit.ly/3J7T6oO

📉 The SC’s pendency drops only when it disposes of more cases than are newly filed. Last year alone, the Court disposed of over 29,000 cases (https://bit.ly/43XHlJJ). 2022 marks the first in 5 years when the SC’s annual disposals exceeded the number of newly filed cases, resulting in a drop in pendency. More here: (https://bit.ly/3qtEU2T)

🎥 Interested in quick and in-depth video explainers on top cases from our SC? SCO’s YouTube channel has you covered. Subscribe now! (https://bit.ly/3OMWpFt)

✨Good Morning!✨

👩🏻‍⚖️ The Indian Supreme Court had a jam-packed first half of 2023. On top of their regular workload, they managed to hear 16 Constitution Benches cases, and delivered a whopping 13 Constitution Bench Judgements.

📄 Why does this matter? Constitution Benches of the SC assemble to interpret the Constitution and answer substantial questions of law. These judgements impact society, politics, economy and the way we understand law. SCO put together these meaningful Judgements here: https://bit.ly/43X2m7m

🏳️‍🌈 The big case that caught all our attention was the petition seeking marriage equality for all. After 10 days of hearings and nearly 30 hours of arguments, the SC reserved judgement. We put together all the arguments in this case in our arguments matrix here: https://bit.ly/454EOyO

👂🏽The Court also heard other important cases this year, on independence of investigative bodies, scope of arbitration law, remission of the Bilkis Bano convicts and more. Here’s SCO’s list: https://bit.ly/42egOXm

👴🏼 There was rapid collegium activity during the summer session, with two retirements and two swift appointments. The Supreme Court experimented with Artificial Intelligence, albeit with questionable results. We’ve put together the most notable developments here: https://bit.ly/3XaMOL2

☕ Good Morning!

📉 Increasing pendency numbers at the Supreme Court have often been alarming. However, this year the trend shows a hopeful decline. For the first time in five years, pendency dropped by 766 cases in the first half of the calendar year.
Read more: (https://bit.ly/42LPoIh)

📜 A recent Union Ordinance effectively contradicts the SC Judgement granting Delhi Government Power Over the NCT Delhi. What is the case about and why does it matter?
Read here: (https://bit.ly/3X4PEkH)

📊 Interested in understanding the SC’s activity in numbers? Visit our Court Data page where we discuss pendency, judges tenures, disposals and much more: (https://bit.ly/3qtlqLY)

🌅 Good morning!

Justice K.M. Joseph retires today after close to a 5-year tenure at the SC. During this tenure, he was part of 404 benches and authored over 132 judgements.

👨🏾‍⚖️ *Notable Judgements*

Justice Joseph made significant contributions to the law and the Constitution Bench activity of the Court. In 2023, out of the six Constitution Benches he led, he authored judgments in four cases. Read more: https://bit.ly/3qLY5Fq

📈 *Tenure in Numbers*

Having authored an average of 68.4 judgements per year, Justice Joseph is the 5th most prolific author amongst his peers. Read about his tenure in numbers: https://bit.ly/3qKAPHM

☀️Good morning!

👨🏻‍⚖👨🏻‍⚖Two Supreme Court Judges, Justices K.M. Joseph and Ajay Rastogi retired last week. This brings the strength of the Supreme Court to 32 judges, out of the 34 sanctioned strength.

🔢 Justice Joseph retired after over a 4.75 year tenure. We’ve assessed his tenure in numbers here: https://bit.ly/449Jcv5

✍🏽 He wrote 132 judgements during his tenure. We’ve discussed his notable judgements here: https://bit.ly/3PpevxT

🔢 Justice Rastogi completed a slightly shorter tenure of 4.5 years. https://bit.ly/3CxCFP0

✍🏽 With a total of 158 judgements, he stands as the 4th most prolific author of judgments in his time. Here are some notable judgements. https://bit.ly/445qBQD

🌅 Good Morning!

🌈 The SC recently reserved judgement in a case seeking legal recognition of LGBTQIA+ marriages in India. This case follows the 2018 judgement that decriminalised homosexuality. Our latest video traces the remarkable evolution of queer rights in India. Watch the full video here: https://bit.ly/43Mu3Qi

📉 This year, for the first time in 5 years, the SC’s pendency dropped by 766 cases in the first half of the calendar year. This progress is particularly impressive, considering that the SC was also abuzz with significant Constitution Bench activity. Read more: https://bit.ly/42LPoIh

🗃️ The SC is currently on the 5th week of its 6-week long summer vacation. With 68,000+ cases pending at the SC, many criticise its long vacations. But are these breaks essential for the quality of justice? Read more: https://bit.ly/3J7T6oO

☕ Good morning!
A Curative Petition is considered as a 'last remedy' where the SC can revise a judgement. Most recently, the SC rejected a Curative Petition filed by the Union seeking additional compensation for victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. SCO tracks notable cases that dealt with Curative petitions here: https://bit.ly/3XinNgJ

🎙️We are elated to announce that we are back with new podcast episodes! You can now hear analysis and updates of the Supreme Court on the go! Follow us on Spotify and stay tuned: https://bit.ly/3pipyxV

✍️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!

🛜 On May 28th, 2023, a Writ Petition challenging the internet shutdown in the State of Manipur was filed at the SC. Earlier this month a Vacation Bench refused to ‘urgently intervene’ in the matter. Read why: https://bit.ly/42RQ3rN

🗓️ With 68,000+ cases pending at the SC, many criticise it for its 6-7 week summer vacation. At this year’s India Today Conclave however, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud defended the SC's Vacations as being crucial for 'quality of justice.' Watch more here: https://bit.ly/44aFWiZ

📩 Did you know that SCO has weekly newsletters? Our Desk Briefs cuts through the clutter and tells the most important stories from the court in the simplest ways. Subscribe now! https://bit.ly/3N46Ov8

☀️Good Morning! Here’s a list of platforms where you can find SCO’s simple and direct reporting on the SC.

💬 Big on social media? Follow us on Twitter! Our contemporaneous tweets of hearings are contextualised, with links to reliable, authentic resources. https://bit.ly/3dXuuCU

📸 We’re also on Instagram, where we upload a video on the biggest SC 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, and tell us what kind of content you would like to see on the Supreme Court! 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 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. We’d love to hear from you on 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!

📊 Currently, the average tenure of a Supreme Court judge is 5.4 years. Nearly half of the sitting judges will have a tenure less than that. What does this say about the age of retirement for SC judges? Read our Court Data piece to know more. https://bit.ly/3JuVbLI

📈With 68,000+ cases pending at the SC, many criticise it for its 6-7 week summer vacation. At this year's India Today Conclave however, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud defended the SC's Vacations as being crucial for 'quality of justice.' Watch more here: https://bit.ly/3J7T6oO

📱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. You can also reach out to us on our WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook and Instagram handles!

☀️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/

🌅 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!

👨🏻‍⚖️ 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!

🇮🇳 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!

🗃️ 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!

⚖️ 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!

🪙 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 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