The bench said that multiple local factors made it difficult for the top court to "frame uniform or standard guideline for trial courts across the length and breadth of this country" and it left the issue of ensuring speedy trial to the high courts as they have the power of superintendence over the trial courts.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also took note of the affidavit of the Manipur chief secretary that there was no short supply of basic commodities like food and medicines for people facing economic blockade.
The Supreme Court on Friday said the trial in the Manipur violence cases being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will take place in neighbouring Assam and asked the Chief Justice of the Gauhati high court to nominate one or more judicial officers to deal with the matters.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra said the detailed order referring the case to a larger bench will be uploaded on the apex court website later in the day.
The Supreme Court in its official communication called it "Truly, a historic day".
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted to announce the appointment of Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, Rajasthan High Court; Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice, Patna High Court; Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice, Manipur High Court; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of Patna High Court; and Justice Manoj Misra of Allahabad High Court as apex court judges.
Today, with the 'Cauvery row' in full flow, the DMK has managed to wrest the 'pan-Tamil initiative' for the Dravidian polity as a whole. What more, the DMK has also stolen much of the 'Tamil thunder' that had belonged to peripheral pan-Tamil groups over the Jallikattu protests in January 2017, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will examine whether the immunity granted to lawmakers from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or vote in Parliament and state legislatures extends to them even if criminality is attached to their actions, as it began reconsideration of its 1998 judgement in the JMM bribery scandal that rocked the country 25 years ago.
Asking Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, to file an updated status report, the bench said, "It should have details like rehabilitation camps, law and order and recovery of arms."
Speculation over Justice Gogoi's appointment as the next CJI arose after the court's four most senior judges, including Justice Gogoi, called a press conference in January and criticised Justice Misra on various issues.
A Supreme Court bench on Wednesday referred to Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia the bail plea of 2008 Bangalore blast accused Abdul Naseer Madani following differences between two judges on grant of bail to him.
A possible, easier and less-complicated way for the Centre would have been to approach the SC with the same queries much earlier, before a ground-swell of popular sentiments and consequent political tensions had built up in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The bench was informed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation and others, that the Centre has filed an affidavit saying it wants to appoint another commission to examine the issue.
Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.
As the impasse over the crisis after the virtual revolt by the four judges against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra last Friday continued, sources said Justice Chelameswar had a brief meeting with another dissenting judge Justice Ranjan Gogoi at his residence.
Justice Chelameswar led three senior judges to an unprecedented press conference, mounting a virtual revolt against CJI Dipak Misra.
The Supreme Court ordered on Monday that no invasive work would be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple and agreed to hear a plea moved by the mosque committee during the day.
Justice S A Bobde will not be available on January 29.
It held that though the LG was not a 'titular head', he should not emerge as an 'adversary having a hostile attitude' towards the Council of Ministers but rather act as a facilitator.
Justice Chelameswar said the reasons were too obvious and he would not like to deal with the matter.
'Even the ruling party -- if it really respects the independence of the judiciary and democracy -- should support this impeachment motion.'
More than Rs 10 lakh was collected during the fund raising event.
The four judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- have taken up their respective business on the first working day of the top court after the January 12 press conference.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who will demit office as the Chief Justice of India in a week's time, has etched his name in the annals of history by giving finality to one of the most politically and religiously sensitive cases, the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the appeal before a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh, which asked him to approach the Registry for listing it for hearing on Friday itself.
A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka also expressed displeasure over the delay in clearing recommendations for transfer of high court judges, calling it a 'very serious issue', and warned that any delay in this matter may result in both administrative and judicial actions which might not be palatable.
Justice J Chelameswar, who courted controversy by virtually revolting against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, also said that impeachment cannot be an answer to every problem and there was need to correct the system.
A unanimous decision was taken by the 30 judges of the apex court in the full court meeting headed by Chief Justice of India U U Lalit held on Tuesday evening to implement an apex court verdict of 2018 in the Swapnil Tripathi case.
Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurien Joseph, Ranjan Gogoi and Jasti Chelameswar addressed the press conference on the lawns of Justice Chelameswar's official residence.
The apex court struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence stating it was archaic and violative of right to equality.
The SC in its judgment said that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a violation of Freedom of Expression. "Sexual orientation of an individual is natural and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a violation of Freedom of Expression, Supreme Court," the court said.
The attorney general said that live streaming can be undertaken on an experimental basis for one-three months to ascertain how it functions technologically.
The court accepted the scheme formulated by the state government to provide "ex gratia assistance" of up to Rs 50,000 to all religious places, including mosques and temples.
He said the Congress party is capable of dragging the judges into an unsavoury controversy and make them controversial 'should their judicial opinion not appear favourable in the cases in which the party has an interest'.
The CBI has alleged that Justice Shukla received illegal gratification from Justice (Retd) Quddusi and B P Yadav, chairman of Prasad Education Trust which runs a medical college in Lucknow, for getting a favourable order to prevent delisting from counselling sessions for admitting students in 2017.
On Thursday, the Constitution Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, along with Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra declared as unconstitutional the penal provision on adultery, saying it was manifestly arbitrary and dents the individuality of women. Here are highlights from their judgments.
The government had declined to appoint Justice Joseph's to the top court and asked it to reconsider his name.
N Sathiya Moorthy goes back in time to dig up three cases that may not have any citation in legal text-books or lawyers' ready-reckoners quoted before courts but which may still have a bearing on the current case against the arrested activists.
Highlighting the pendency of cases in various courts of the country, he said Indian legal system is marked by long delays and some of the reasons for it are infrastructure gaps and considerable vacancies, particularly in subordinate courts.
The Supreme Court said that except for three issues, including land and law and order, Delhi government has the power to legislate and govern on other issues.
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