Supreme Court Observer
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Supreme Court Observer is a living archive of the Supreme Court of India. Subscribe to this channel for legal updates and incisive journalism on the Court.
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🌼 Good morning!

👨🏻‍⚖ Yesterday, the Union government notified the appointment of Sanjiv Khanna as the next Chief Justice of India. He will assume this role after the incumbent Chief Justice, D.Y. Chandrachud, retires on 10 Nov 2024. Learn more about Justice Khanna: https://bit.ly/3UmLDIi

📜 Last week, CJI Chandrachud had nominated Justice Khanna to be the next CJI. Of the judges currently in the Supreme Court, Justice Khanna has served the longest after CJI Chandrachud. Read: https://bit.ly/48ob95K

8️⃣ Who are the next 8 Chief Justices of India if the seniority principle is followed? Read about the judges who will lead the Supreme Court till 2031: https://bit.ly/4huzIlA
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🧪 Last week, in an 8:1 majority, the Supreme Court held that a state government has the power to regulate industrial alcohol. It also held that states’ power to make laws on “intoxicating liquor” included the alcohol used for industrial purposes.

🥃 This seemingly technical case had some interesting moments, including a sprinkling of quintessential booze humour.

Our newsletter this week discusses how this case throws up questions on achieving ‘federal balance', and the concerns that Justice Nagarathna's dissenting judgment raises. https://bit.ly/4fmnPfq
Good Morning!

📇 This month, a 5-judge Constitution Bench upheld Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 in a 4:1 majority. The provision grants citizenship to migrants who entered India from Bangladesh before 25.03.1971.

👨🏻‍⚖️In his dissent, Justice J.B. Pardiwala relied on the principle of "temporal unreasonableness" to hold that the provision was unconstitutional. We explain this principle here: https://bit.ly/4fk1aAF

🥃 Last week, a 9-judge bench, in an 8:1 majority, upheld states' power to regulate industrial alcohol. Justice B.V. Nagarathna delivered the dissenting opinion.

👩🏻‍⚖️She noted that allowing states to regulate matters where Union laws already exist would lead to a “breakdown” of the federal structure: https://bit.ly/4fmnPfq
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📖 Good Morning!

🌧️ It was raining decisions in October! SCObserver has you covered

🥃 Last week, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that state governments have the power to regulate industrial and potable alcohol. Our judgement summary captures the key takeaways: https://bit.ly/3C3wOnr

📑 A week before that, a five-judge bench upheld the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act which granted citizenship to migrants who entered Assam from Bangladesh. Our summary: https://bit.ly/48hyaqA

Earlier this month, a three-judge bench struck down rules perpetuating caste based segregation and discrimination in prisons. It directed state governments to update their prison manuals in three months. More: https://bit.ly/4f3gNfM
🎆 Good Morning!

Next week will be CJI D.Y. Chandrachud's last working week at the Supreme Court. Before he retires, Constitution Benches led by him are expected to deliver five significant decisions. Stay updated with SCO:

💬 Big on Twitter (X)? Follow us now! We will be live tweeting key judgement pronouncements: https://bit.ly/3dXuuCU

📸 We’re also on Instagram with posts and videos on the biggest story of the day and week: https://bit.ly/3Rnjzjr

📹 Subscribe to our YouTube channel for video updates and explainers: https://bit.ly/3RkL39u

📧 If you enjoy a crisp weekend newsletter, SCO’s Desk Briefs are for you. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3TZLf20

🙏🏽 Thank you for following our updates. Do write to us at admin@scobserver.in with suggestions!
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☕️ Good Morning!

👨‍⚖️ Justice Sanjiv Khanna will assume office as India's 51st Chief Justice on 11 November for a tenure of 6 months. We look at his journey so far and what his term has in store: https://bit.ly/3NLSAPp

🏛️ Next week is Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud's last working week. Elevated in 2016, CJI Chandrachud has been on the Supreme Court bench for 8.5 years. Read more about his life and career here: https://bit.ly/3A9KXPC

🏭 Last month, the Supreme Court held that state governments have the power to regulate industrial alcohol. We summarise the 364-page judgement: https://bit.ly/3C3wOnr
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🍃 Good Morning!

👨🏻‍⚖Today marks the beginning of an end. It will be Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud‘s final working week before the curtain falls on his eight-year tenure at the Supreme Court.

🏛️ Analysing the tenure as the longest-serving Chief Justice since 2012 doesn’t lend itself to easy generalisations and pithy one-liners. Read: https://bit.ly/3ArqqpB

⚖️ As the incoming Chief Justice, Sanjiv Khanna has the enviable task of balancing continuity with fresh reforms. Read our introduction: https://bit.ly/3UCejgq

📄 Today, the Court is scheduled to hear challenges to the constitutional validity of the 2019 amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Read: https://bit.ly/3NSKAvL
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🍃 Good Morning!

🏛️ Today, a 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court will deliver the judgement on whether private property can be considered “material resources of the community” under Article 39(b) of the Constitution. Here's everything you need to know: https://bit.ly/4ehGMz8

5️⃣ Four working days remain in CJI D.Y. Chandrachud’s tenure. Here are key Constitution Bench decisions pending before his Court: https://bit.ly/3YGi7P4

🩺 Today, the Court is scheduled to continue hearing the R.G. Kar rape and murder case. In the last hearing, the Court urged the National Task Force to speed up its work: https://bit.ly/48xpEnN
🌻 Good morning!

🚕 Today, the Supreme Court will deliver judgement on whether a person licenced to drive a Light Motor Vehicle is entitled to drive a ‘Transport Vehicle of Light Motor Vehicle Class’ with unladen weight of less than 7500 kg'. The outcome could impact the livelihoods of gig workers who use their LMV licence to transport people and goods. Read: https://bit.ly/3Ce7eMB

📝 Read our detailed case docket, including reports of seven days of hearings, here: https://bit.ly/3Az2SyQ

🩺 Today, the Court will also continue hearing the R.G. Kar Hospital rape and murder case. In the last hearing, the Court noted the lack of progress made by the National Task Force set up by the Court. Read: https://bit.ly/48xpEnN
🌇 Good Morning!

⁉️ *Can public employers change the rules of selection once the process is already underway?*

🏛️ A 5-judge Constitution Bench will answer this question today. At the heart of this case is the interplay between eligibility, merit and transparency. Here's everything you need to know: https://bit.ly/3Ay3h51

🚕 Yesterday, another 5-judge bench held that holders of Light Motor Vehicle Licences can drive Transport Vehicles weighing under 7500 kg, providing relief to many gig workers in the country. Our report: https://bit.ly/3UHj0Wl

👨🏻‍⚖️ Today is CJI Chandrachud's penultimate working day at the Supreme Court. Read our latest newsletter for a snapshot of his tenure: https://bit.ly/3ArqqpB
🌆 Good Evening!

👨🏻‍⚖ Today was CJI D.Y. Chandrachud's last working day at the Supreme Court. During his farewell, he fondly stated that his time at the bench was what kept him going. More here: https://bit.ly/48E5xnX

🔟 As the curtain drops on his 8.5-year tenure at the top court, we've compiled a subjective list of his Top 10 judgements. Read here: https://bit.ly/3CjO5sM

📜 Notably, since he took over as Chief two years ago, Constitution Benches he formed and led have delivered 16 judgements. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3YDTkLs

🗣 During his tenure, he has also delivered significant dissenting opinions. We list seven of them here: https://bit.ly/3O0FdLd

🌐 Stay tuned to SCObserver for more assessments of his tenure!
🪴 Good Morning!

Today marks a new beginning at the Supreme Court as Justice Sanjiv Khanna takes over as the 51st Chief Justice of India. Who is he and what has his service at the Supreme Court stood out for? https://bit.ly/3UCejgq

🗂️ Justice Khanna will inherit a Court with a staggering 82,000+ pending cases. He will also have some of the most charged cases pending before him, including the Sabarimala Review petitions and the marital rape case.

📃 As we bid farewell to the outgoing Chief, CJI Chandrachud, here’s a list of our top 10 (+5 bonus) cases that stood out in his 8-year career at the top court. https://bit.ly/3CjO5sM
🍃 Good Morning!

👨🏻‍⚖ Eight and a half years since he first took oath in the Supreme Court of India, Dhananjay Y. Chandrachud bid farewell to the institution on Friday.

🗓 Amid swirling questions about his legacy as Chief, his final week in Court saw several chapters neatly fold over themselves. More in our latest newsletter: https://bit.ly/4hKdmfR

📝 Last Friday, the _Supreme Court Observer_ conducted a workshop for the LL.M cohort in the Access to Justice programme at TISS, Mumbai. The workshop was designed to help students understand the Supreme Court as an institution and its work through judgements. More here: https://bit.ly/3Ck44XE
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🌤️ Good Morning!

📜 Today a Division Bench of the Supreme Court will deliver the judgement in a batch of petitions challenging unlawful bulldozer demolitions by government authorities nationwide.

👨🏻‍⚖️👨🏻‍⚖️ The Court has been hearing the petitions since 2022 and a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan reserved judgement on 1 October 2024. More here: https://bit.ly/4hMprkH

🏛️ Last month, a 9-judge bench upheld states power to regulate industrial alcohol. In SCO's latest commentary, Advocate M. Jannani writes that the decision is a welcome shift in jurisprudence. Find out why: https://bit.ly/3UQWavn

📑 Our matrix breaks down the 364-page industrial alcohol judgement here: https://bit.ly/3UO41ty
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🌤️Good Morning!

⚒️ Yesterday, the Supreme Court held that government-initiated bulldozer demolitions, particularly targeting homes of individuals accused of crimes was illegal and issued pan-India guidelines to curb them.

The Court made sharp observations that bulldozer demolitions indicated a “lawless, ruthless state of affairs”. Further, that such state actions are arbitrary, undermine the rule of law and disregard the principles of natural justice.

🗣️ The pan-India guidelines framed by the Court mandate that property owners or occupants are given a fair hearing and all possible alternatives are thoroughly considered before taking the “extreme step” of demolition.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3UNcOvS
🍁 Good Morning!

🚧 Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued pan-India guidelines to curb illegal bulldozer demolitions. The bench held that any violations of these guidelines would amount to contempt of court: https://bit.ly/3UNcOvS

📃 The Court had reserved judgement in the case in October. In our Monthly Review, we summarise key arguments in this case and bring you other highlights of the month: https://bit.ly/3AHTgSO

📊 In October, the Court cleared an average of 351 cases per day. More number of cases were instituted and disposed in Oct 2024 than in Octobers of the previous two years: https://bit.ly/3CtJa8I

📉 Notably, pendency also saw a dip last month, with the backlog reduced by 99 cases: https://bit.ly/3AQJ7TN
🍃 Good Morning!

On 8 November, the Supreme Court pronounced its much-awaited seven-judge bench decision in the matter concerning the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.

👨‍🏫 Professor Faizan Mustafa, a former Registrar of AMU, writes that what looks like a 4:3 majority might be closer to 6:1 on key points of the reference & indicators to determine minority character of an institution. Read: http://bit.ly/3YV4bjZ

📺 We explain the AMU judgement in this video: https://bit.ly/40Sfyfb

📝 Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud retired from the Supreme Court on 10 November. In this video, we highlight 10 of his most significant judgements from an eight-year tenure at the Court here: https://bit.ly/4ezPkS5
🌤️ Good Morning!

👨🏻‍⚖️ Justice Sanjiv Khanna assumed office as India's 51st Chief Justice on 11 November. Each recent Chief has faced unique administrative challenges.

🏛️ Justice N.V. Ramana had to grapple with the changing dynamics of the Court during the second wave of the pandemic. Justice U.U. Lalit inherited a Court that hadn’t heard a Constitution Bench case since June 2021.

📰 Justice D.Y. Chandrachud moved the needle on several technological reforms. His media appearances have also reshaped the public perception of the Court.

🔎 CJI Khanna's tenure will inevitably invite heightened public scrutiny. But will his six months in office mark a return to more unassuming ways? We explore in our latest newsletter: https://bit.ly/4109Ojw
🌦️Good Morning!

🍔 Our morning updates often coincide with notifications from food delivery apps or reminders from cab services nudging you to choose them to head to work.

🛵Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard a plea concerning the rights of gig workers of these platforms who are currently classified by companies as "partners" and not "employees."

🚛 The plea before the Court seeks for their recognition as “unorganised workers” under the _Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act_. More here: https://bit.ly/3ASQIBn

🎙️We spoke with Professor Babu Mathew, who highlighted that social security is a labour right. Listen to our podcast for more insights: https://bit.ly/4fV2H07

🔊 Catch our podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music!
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🌻 Good Morning!

📸 Unlike previous Chief Justices, who kept restrained public profiles, D.Y. Chandrachud displayed a certain keenness for public engagements. His frequent appearances invited unprecedented attention to an opaque institution: https://bit.ly/3CByrZP

👩🏽‍🦼 Justice Chandrachud’s interest in furthering the conversation around disability rights has resulted in a rich body of jurisprudence. We look at some of his significant judgements: https://bit.ly/3B3aeuW

🏛️ Recently, the Court announced that miscellaneous cases will be listed by the Registry no more than 10 days after the expiry of the period directed by the Court. This may address the issue of delays that advocates pointed out in our story about listing woes: https://bit.ly/4i0e3BI
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Good Morning!

📜 Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna's first office circular recently announced that regular matters will not be heard until further orders.

🗣️ Even as advocates predict that the measure is temporary, they expressed disappointment that the Bar was not consulted on listing issues. More in our reported story: https://bit.ly/3V4vpUn

🏛️ There is also anticipation about how this move will impact the pendency of cases. Though former Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud introduced several institutional reforms, pendency at the top court was over 82000 at the time of his retirement.

📈 How did the Chandrachud Court deal with pendency? Did the former Chief's vision to reduce case backlog match the numbers? We analyse: https://bit.ly/4fZwsNj
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