The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Constitution intended to bring about a 'sense of social transformation' and it would be 'dangerous' to say that the private property of an individual cannot be regarded as material resources of community and taken over by state authorities to subserve 'common good'.
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 five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said there is "no manner of doubt" that the SBI is required to disclose complete details of the bonds.
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.
With the appointment of the five judges, the total number of judges in the apex court has risen to 32, two short of the full strength.
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.
"It does not matter," the Supreme Court on Friday observed after an advocate mentioned before it that an objectionable video in which the apex court has been compared with a brothel is being circulated on social media platforms.
In a major relief to 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff of West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the order of the Calcutta high court order invalidating their appointment made by the state's School Service Commission (SSC) in the state-run and state-aided schools.
It is significant that the matter has not been listed before the judges who are number two to five in the seniority.
It is easy to criticise but difficult to transform an institution, says CJI Misra
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.
Justice Gogoi said he has a plan to deal with the backlog of cases and he will "unfold" it soon.
The top court issued notice to the Election Commission on the PIL filed by author, activist and motivational speaker Shiv Khera.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed the Chandigarh administration on Monday to provide security to the judicial officer, to be appointed by the high court, to ensure the safety of the officer and the records.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea of the Tamil Nadu government against the refusal of Governor RN Ravi to appoint senior DMK leader K Ponmudi as a minister in the state cabinet.
"The need is to strengthen the judiciary as a consequence of which the justice delivery system becomes fast, qualitatively responsive and serve the purpose of justice," he said.
The meeting between the CJI and four judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- lasted for around 10-15 minutes before resumption of court proceedings at 10:30 am, court sources said.
Leaders of the opposition parties had on Friday met Naidu and handed over the notice of impeachment against the chief justice of India bearing signatures of 64 MPs and seven former members, who recently retired.
Attorney General K K Venugopal on Tuesday said the crisis in the Supreme Court seems to be unresolved and hoped it will be "fully settled" in a couple of days, remarks that come a day after he stated that everything was settled in the higher judiciary.
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.
During the hearing in CJI's court No 1, an unfazed Justice Gogoi said the allegations are unbelievable.
Corruption and bribery of members of the legislature erode the foundation of Indian parliamentary democracy, the Supreme Court said on Monday.
None of the four judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- feature in the list of members of the 5-judge constitution bench.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud held that the 2018 scheme was 'violative' of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression and right to information.
Apart from high-profile cases like the validity of Aadhaar Act in light of the right to privacy judgment and Ayodhya land dispute, the CJI is also heading various benches that are expected to decide cases related reservations to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in promotion in government jobs, the alleged dilution of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code -- which stipulates punishment against harassment of women by husband and in-laws -- and framing of guidelines to check violence and vandalism by a protesting mob.
The Supreme Court Bar Association has written to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana expressing anguish at the non-consideration of names of its members for elevation as judges in various high courts.
The judgment stated that there cannot be "any distrust about the responsibilities" the Chief Justice discharges.
Justice Gogoi lamented that the very issues which give a different identity to a community make its people hate those who are different.
It is the custom in the top court that a retiring judge, on his last day, is given the honour of sitting with the CJI in the majestic Court no 1.
Chastising the State Bank of India, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered it to disclose the details of the electoral bonds encashed by political parties to the Election Commission by the close of the business hours on March 12 and warned the country's largest public sector lender that the court may proceed against it for 'wilful disobedience' if it failed to comply with its directions and deadlines.
Declaring that women cannot be left out, the Supreme Court on Monday told the Centre to ensure that women are granted permanent commission in the Indian Coast Guard and said the court will do it if the government doesn't.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Manipur government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file reports elaborating on the status of probe and the charge sheets filed in cases of ethnic-violence to help it take a decision on whether the trials can commence in Assam or be undertaken in Manipur.
The Congress accused the Centre of making a serious assault on the basic structure of the Constitution, saying the action subsumes the independence of the judiciary.
Justice Gogoi, the 46th CJI and the first from a north-eastern state, said it was not the requirement of the Supreme Court that judges 'reach out to our citizenry through the press'.
The 5-judge bench, was referring to four senior most judges of apex court -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- who had held January 12 press conference against CJI Dipak Misra raising litany of questions on allocation of cases.
It was reacting to lawyer Mathews Nedumpara's email to the top court in which he claimed the apex court has been hearing only constitution bench matters, which have no public interest involved, and not the cases of ordinary citizens.
The top court took note of the submissions of some aspirants that a question related to an "atom" and its characteristics had two correct answers and a set of examinees, who gave one particular answer out of the two correct ones, were awarded four marks.
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.
A petition seeking a review of the October 17 verdict refusing to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriages was mentioned before the Supreme Court on Thursday for an open court hearing.
"My presence in Parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the judiciary before the legislature and vice versa," he said.
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