The Supreme Court on Friday held that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act cannot be stunted by personal laws and that marriages involving children violate the free will to have a life partner of choice.
In an unprecedented development, the Supreme Court Collegium has made public the names of the two judges on the panel who objected to the method of 'circulation' adopted for eliciting the views of its members on the appointment of judges to the apex court.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the Centre on a plea filed by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms, and listed the matter along with other pending petitions on the issue for hearing in April.
"We live lives which are relatively isolated from the political arm of the government -- but obviously judges have to be conversant with the impact of their decisions on the polity at large. That's not political pressure but an understanding by the court of the likely impact of a decision," CJI Chandrachud said in his address at the Oxford Union.
CJI Ramana said the journey from the bar to the bench is often not natural and for years together, the life of a judge is spent in isolation and social alienation.
A bench headed by the CJI took up the petitions and said, 'We will place this matter before a bench to which I (CJI) am not a part of because the comments (tweets) were made on the order, which I have passed.'
The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider in-chambers on Tuesday a batch of pleas seeking review of its judgment which held that states are constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes, which form a socially heterogeneous class, for granting reservation.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said truth has become a "victim" in the age of false news and with the spread of social media, something which is said as a seed germinates into virtually a whole theory that can never be tested on the anvil of rational science.
The executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Wednesday decided to call off the general body meeting scheduled for March 16 to vote on resolutions seeking explanation from senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Neeraj Kishan Kaul for apologising to CJI DY Chandrachud on behalf of the bar body.
The CJI also dealt with the principle of affirmative action by the state and said it was meant to achieve broader equality and was not against the right to equality.
CJI Lalit concurred with the minority view of Justice S Ravindra Bhat who held the EWS quota as "unconstitutional" for excluding poor among SCs, STs and OBCs.
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.
Senior-most Supreme Court judge Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday recused himself from considering pleas seeking review of the apex court's judgment last year declining legal recognition to same-sex marriage, sources said.
A seven-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma said there is no error apparent on the face of the record.
Justice BV Nagarathna also partially agreed with the majority verdict but criticised the CJI's views on Justice Iyer's judicial approach in dealing with "material resources" and state's power over them.
Creating a record, the CJI headed apex court collegium meetings led to appointment of 11 Supreme Court judges with nine of them, including three women, appointed in one go.
According to the cause list of July 10 uploaded on the apex court website, a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud would consider in chambers the pleas seeking review of the October 17 last year verdict.
Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit Thursday said media reports claiming that a Supreme Court bench has criticised the new system of listing of cases are 'not correct' and all judges of the apex court are on the same page.
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.
The CJI said that he recovered in four days in the first wave but it's taking a long time in the third wave.
He said there used to be mutual respect between the government and the opposition, which is diminishing.
Justice Kamal Narain Singh, who was the CJI between November 25, 1991 and December 12, 1991, had a tenure of 18 days.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna 'belongs to that school of legal luminaries who give the highest primacy to facts.'
The Delhi high court on Friday dismissed with a cost of Rs 1 lakh a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of Justice D Y Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India.
He said he was wondering where our institutions are going wrong, that students are forced to take their life.
The CJI also said the ancient Indian text "Nyayshastra" is "not a bit" inferior to Aristotle and the Persian system of logic, and "there is no reason why we should forsake, overlook, and not benefit from the geniuses of our ancestors".
Modi asserted that judicial reform is not merely a policy matter.
The sources said the CJI took his daughters to his chamber while explaining about his workplace and showed them the place where the judges sit and from where the lawyers argue their cases.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has dismissed a complaint filed by the family of former Chief Justice Of India J S Verma alleging he died because of medical negligence during his treatment.
Outgoing Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana on Friday said the appointment of 11 Supreme Court and 224 high court judges, besides recommending the names of more women for judgeship during his tenure as the head of the judiciary, was a reflection of "the coherence and determination" of judges to strengthen the judiciary to further the goal of justice.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Centre's plea for prospective effect of its July 25 verdict, which upheld the power of states to levy tax on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land, and allowed them to seek refund of royalty from April 1, 2005 onwards.
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 media must confine itself to honest journalism and not use it as a tool to expand its influence and business interests, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said on Tuesday.
He said in order to have a thriving democracy, one must have an independent judiciary because it is through dispute resolution that society is assured of governance by the rule of law.
Inaugurating the 39th chief justices' conference in New Delhi, which is being held after a gap of six years, the CJI outlined the agenda of the meeting and said the 'aim and object of today's conference is to discuss and identify the problems that are affecting the administration of justice'.
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde is holding its scheduled meeting on Thursday to discuss possible candidates for the appointment of judges in higher judiciary, sources familiar with the development said.
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.
Chief Justice of India-designate Justice U U Lalit on Friday highlighted three areas on which he intends to work during his 74-day tenure as the head of the judiciary and said he would strive hard to ensure that at least one Constitution bench is functioning in the Supreme Court throughout the year.
President Droupadi Murmu administered him the oath at a brief ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Quoting Greek philosopher Socrates, Justice Bopanna emphasised that there are four qualities that are expected of a judge -- to hear courteously, to consider soberly, to answer wisely and to decide impartially.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances