Justice Sanjiv Khanna 'belongs to that school of legal luminaries who give the highest primacy to facts.'
Following is the chronology of events in the case in which a five-judge Constitution Bench of the SC upheld the 2010 Delhi high court verdict which said that the office of the Chief Justice of India falls under the ambit of RTI Act.
Observing that Laxman rekha of separation of power is 'sacrosanct,' Chief Justice of India N V Ramana Friday said at times courts are compelled to intervene in the interest of justice and the intention is to nudge the executive, and not to usurp its role and they should not be projected as judiciary targeting another institution.
The Supreme Court of India has ordered a status quo on a private well located near the entrance of the Sambhal Jama Masjid, prohibiting any action regarding the well without its permission. The order came in response to a plea by the mosque's management committee, which challenged a lower court order that allowed a survey of the mosque, citing concerns over violence and loss of life during previous surveys. The court also instructed the authorities to file a status report within two weeks.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to lodge an FIR into the alleged conspiracy to "fix" Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
The legal battle over the alleged infringement of trademark of whisky brands witnessed an unusual sight in the Supreme Court as liquor bottles were placed before the country's highest court.
'Not providing a copy to the complainant while holding her complaint to be unfounded would be a violation of the principles of natural justice and a complete travesty of justice'
The Supreme Court on Monday took exception to making the Chief Justice of India one of the party respondents in a plea challenging the designation of lawyers as senior advocates.
Justice Gogoi as the Chief Justice has a tenure of 13 months and 15 days while Justice Bobde, who will be sworn in as CJI on November 18, will have a tenure of about 18 months.
"Don't know any finer judge than Justice Indu Malhotra," Chief Justice S A Bobde said on Friday as the first woman lawyer to be appointed directly as a judge of the Supreme Court sat on the bench along with him for the last time before her retirement.
The CJI is expected to write to the President and the Prime Minister soon about his recommendation.
The Hyderabad incident had sparked demands of swift punishment to rape convicts. The news of the 'encounter' killing led to celebrations in some quarters and concern in others.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi upheld the 2010 Delhi high court verdict and dismissed three appeals filed by Secretary General of the Supreme Court and the Central Public Information officer of the apex court.
According to the sources, the woman has joined the duty and proceeded on leave. All her arrears too have been cleared.
Lawyer Utsav Singh Bains claimed that he was offered Rs 1.5 crore to represent a former apex court woman employee and arrange a presser against the CJI at the Press Club of India in New Delhi.
"The government has cleared seven names out of the 106 judges and one out of the nine for chief justices, so far. I expect that the government will clear the rest of the names very soon. These appointments will take care of pendency to some extent. I seek the cooperation and support of the Government to enable access to justice and to strengthen democracy," CJI N V Ramana said.
Section 6A, which was incorporated in the Citizenship Act 1955 following the signing of the 1985 Assam Accord, was upheld by the Supreme Court.
The bench said it will take up the matter for hearing on Thursday.
A Rajya Sabha member now, Gogoi was earlier being provided with a security cover of the Delhi Police.
The SC said at most it can give directions to the authorities to make the situation better and for that it needs assistance of different groups and positive suggestions.
A four-member team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) conducted a survey of the recently-discovered Shri Kartik Mahadev temple, five pilgrimage sites, and 19 wells in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, India. The survey followed the discovery of three damaged idols inside a well of the Bhasma Shankar temple, which was reopened after being shut for 46 years. The Shri Kartik Mahadev temple, also known as the Bhasma Shankar temple, was reopened on December 13 after authorities found the covered structure during an anti-encroachment drive. The temple houses an idol of Lord Hanuman and a Shivling and had remained locked since 1978. The district administration has requested carbon dating of the temple, including the well, from the ASI. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has restrained courts across India from entertaining new lawsuits or passing any orders in pending ones seeking to reclaim religious places, especially mosques and dargahs, until further notice. This action halts proceedings in approximately 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu parties seeking surveys to determine the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi at Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid at Mathura, and the Shahi Jama Masjid at Sambhal, where four individuals died in clashes. The Supreme Court will examine the legality, scope, and boundaries of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits the conversion of places of worship and ensures the preservation of their religious character as it existed on August 15, 1947.
Chief Justice of India J S Khehar on Saturday criticised the electoral politics in the country, saying poll promises are "routinely unfulfilled", caste issues projected differently to get a majority and party manifestos do not have any linkage to socio-economic justice.
Allowing the Centre's review of the August 23, 2022 verdict, a bench Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra recalled the judgement delivered by a three-judge bench headed by former CJI NV Ramana.
The judgement is likely to be pronounced before November 17 as Justice Gogoi's tenure as the CJI comes to end on that day.
Justice Bobde also raised concern about common people and their ability to access the independent and affordable advocacy in view of the fact that lawyers charge exorbitant professional fees and asked the Bar to ponder over this issue.
The Supreme Court on Friday got irked over a lengthy judgement penned by a single judge bench of the Delhi high court in a case related to an arbitral award involving media baron Kalanithi Maran and SpiceJet, saying there was no "application of mind". Suggesting that the case be now transferred to another judge by the Delhi HC, the top court said the judgement "has to be carefully articulated" and "the judge must apply mind to grounds of challenge and then deduce if interference is warranted". The strong observations against the single judge bench came from a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud during the hearing of an appeal by Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways against a Delhi high court order setting aside an arbitral award asking the SpiceJet to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to the media baron and his firm.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, M M Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi will hear the plea of jailed JMM leader at 10.30 am on Friday.
During the hearing, only the woman was present and the secretary general was not privy to the proceedings.
The apex court termed the prevalence of "social evil" of child marriage as "sobering" and passed a slew of directions to the Centre, states, district administrations, panchayats and the judiciary to eradicate the malaise.
The CJI, who hails from Assam, said that NRC is neither a 'new or a novel idea' as it found expression as early as in 1951 and the current exercise is an attempt to update the 1951 NRC.
Justice Bobde, 63, also rued the criticism of judges on social media for their judicial actions and said most of the judges, who are not "thick skinned", get perturbed.
The bench wondered if it struck down the immunity clause in the penal codes then the offence will be covered under the main provision on rape or "can the court create a separate offence or adjudicate the validity of the exception (clause)".
The CJI said that after being a judge for around two decades, he had a bank balance of Rs 6.80 lakh.
At his farewell function, CJI Dipak Misra said that tears of a poor man is equal to tears of a rich man.
An official of the Supreme Court said this is for the first time that a permission has been granted to register case against a sitting high court judge.
Voicing concern over misuse of PILs, the CJI said it has now turned into "Personal Interest Litigation"
The former Supreme Court employee dubbed on Tuesday as "very frightening" the atmosphere of the in-house inquiry committee and "walked out" raising various objections including denial of her lawyer's presence.
Over 250 eminent citizens, including former judges and ambassadors, have written to the President and Chief Justice of India calling for strong action against online news portal NewsClick, which is alleged to have received dubious funds from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham to spread Chinese propaganda.
The CJI said people are the ultimate lords in democracy and whatever decision has been taken by the dispensation should benefit them.
