It is crucial to electoral democracy that the exercise of freedom to vote is not subject to undue influence, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while striking down as unconstitutional the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta posed the question to former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy and lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who sought deletion of the words "Socialist" and "Secular" from the Preamble of the Constitution.
After perusing the transcript of the statements given in the interview, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta observed, "Prima facie, there is no hate speech. No case is made out."
The bench asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre's counsel.
The collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant, recommended the names of Delhi high court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Rajasthan high court Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Gauhati high court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta as top court judges.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta referred to a larger bench, preferably of five judges, for in-depth consideration of three questions on the aspect of "need and necessity of arrest" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"The voter turnout data for the first two phases of the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections published by ECI on April 30 has been published after 11 days of the first phase of polling... on April 19 and four days after second phase of polling... on April 26.
The atmosphere was jubilant at Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh's residence in New Delhi on Tuesday as supporters with 'dhol and nagada' gathered outside his house to celebrate the Supreme Court granting bail to him in the liquor 'scam' case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said the apex court has already defined hate speech and the question now is of implementation of its directions.
Granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would not amount to grant of privilege or special status to politicians, the Supreme Court on Friday said, while observing that the Aam Aadmi Party leader has no criminal antecedents and is not a threat to the society.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took exception to the ED filing four supplementary chargesheets, the latest on March 1, 2024, in a money laundering case arising from alleged illegal mining in Jharkhand.
Not ordering disclosure of details of electoral bonds prior to April 12, 2019, was a "conscious choice" by the Constitution bench, the Supreme Court said on Monday while refusing to entertain the submissions of ASSOCHAM and CII against the disclosure of bond details on the ground of their plea not being listed.
The Supreme Court on Monday rebuked Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his "eradicate Sanatan Dharma" remark and asked why he has moved the court with his plea for clubbing together the FIRs filed against him after abusing his right to freedom of speech and expression.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to hear the matter.
It referred to Article 105 of the Constitution which deals with powers, privileges etc, of the Houses of Parliament and of the members and committees thereof.
Highlights of the judgment pronounced by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court that on Monday unanimously upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution bestowing special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Kejriwal has described his arrest by the ED ahead of the general election as an "unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy" and urged the apex court to release him by declaring the case against him as "illegal".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought extension of his interim bail by seven days from the Supreme Court to undergo a host of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan in view of his 'sudden and unexplained weight loss, coupled with high ketone levels', which are indicatives of kidney, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Centre over the procedure adopted for the appointment of election commissioners and asked how six names were shortlisted from 200 within a few hours.
The Collegium had proposed Justice Singh's transfer on August 3 for "better administration of justice".
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta gave liberty to petitioners Internet Freedom Foundation and Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project, who had jointly filed the petition, to approach the high court.
A husband has no control over his wife's 'stridhan' (woman's property) and while he may use it during the time of his distress, he has a moral obligation to return it to his wife, the Supreme Court has reiterated while directing a man to pay Rs 25 lakh to a woman in return for her lost gold.
Justice Muralidharan had directed the state government to consider the representation for ST status to the majority Meitei community and write to the Centre within four weeks.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking a complete ban on artistes from Pakistan to perform or work in India, and asked the petitioner not to be "so narrow-minded".
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea challenging an Allahabad high court order dismissing a PIL seeking a direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to acquire the Krishna Janmabhoomi Janmasthan at Mathura and hand it over to the Hindus for worshipping Lord Krishna.
Justice Khanna said all the intervention applications filed on the issue will also be taken on April 16 when the final hearing will take place.
The Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing on a plea of Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra challenging her expulsion from the Lok Sabha till January 3 next year.
The Supreme Court on Monday told Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin that he cannot compare himself to media personnel to seek the relief of clubbing of multiple first information reports (FIRs) lodged against him for his 'eradicate Sanatan dharma' remarks.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGOs 'Common Cause' and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, that the plea needed to be listed for hearing at the earliest.
In a landmark judgment that delivered a big blow to the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.
The review plea filed on May 10 said, "There are mistakes and errors apparent on the face of the impugned order..., and as such there are sufficient reasons which require review of the impugned order/judgment..."
"Interim orders wherever granted shall continue. Re-list in first half of April, 2024," the bench said in its order and directed the parties to complete the pleadings by then.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain former ICICI bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar's plea seeking retirement benefits from the bank. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said, "Not a case for interference. We are not inclined to interfere with the high court order. "The special leave petition is dismissed." At the outset, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Kochhar said the high court had dismissed the petition without any discussion or finding.
The bench said it is not going into the merit of the case at the moment.
The bench has divided the hearing on Kejriwal's petition against his arrest into two parts. His main petition challenges his arrest by the ED and seeks it to be declared as illegal, while the second aspect pertains to grant of interim bail keeping in mind the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The court has reserved the order on the issue of grant of interim bail.
The State Bank of India told the Supreme Court on Thursday it has provided all details of the electoral bonds in its possession to the Election Commission.
Government unlikely to bring in an ordinance to address the developments arising out of the Supreme Court order.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a fresh affidavit filed in the top court, the ED said no political leader has ever been granted interim bail for campaigning even if he is not contesting polls.
Writing his views in a separate verdict while concurring with the opinion of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was heading the bench, Justice Datta said the question of reverting to "paper ballot system", on facts and in the circumstances, does not and cannot arise.
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