Landmark judgments follow new CJI's assumption of office.
The Supreme Court on Friday termed as "virtually infructuous" a petition filed by a group of lawyers opposing the elevation of Justice J S Khehar as next the Chief Justice of India, observing that the President of India has already issued a notification in this regard.
A 'communication dated May 6, 2014 received from Justice J S Khehar was placed before the Chief Justice of India on May 7.
Justice J S Khehar will be sworn in on January 4 and will hold the tenure for over seven months till August 27, 2017.
Justice Khehar, 64, will be the first Chief Justice from the Sikh community and he will succeed CJI Thakur who will be demitting office on January 3, 2017.
President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to Justice Kehar at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred the coveted Padma awards on 68 eminent personalities, including former Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, dancer Shobana Chandrakumar, actor Anant Nag, and Vice Chancellor of King George's Medical University Soniya Nityanand. The awards were given in various disciplines and fields, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service. The Padma Vibhushan was awarded to Justice (retd) Khehar for public affairs, while nine individuals received the Padma Bhushan. The Padma Shri was awarded to leading immunologist and KGMU VC Nityanand, footballer Inivalappil Mani Vijayan, singer Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, actor Ashok Laxman Saraf, mask maker Reba Kanta Mahanta, and musician Ricky Gyan Kej, among others.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday approved 139 Padma awards including seven Padma Vibhushans, 19 Padma Bhushans and 113 Padma Shris.
Justice Khanna, who will serve as CJI for a little over six months, will demit office on May 13, 2025.
Justice Lalit will be the second CJI who was directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar.
President Droupadi Murmu administered him the oath at a brief ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Senior-most judge of the Supreme Court Justice U U Lalit, who is in line to become the next Chief Justice of India (CJI), has been part of several landmark judgments including the one which held the practice of divorce through instant 'triple talaq' among Muslims illegal and unconstitutional.
Justice Misra will remain in office till October 2, 2018.
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.
Justice Karnan claimed that the seven judges of the bench have insulted him 'wantonly and deliberately and with mala fide intention'.
The PM lauded the steps being taken by the CJI to make use of technology in simplifying the working in the courts and bring about qualitative change.
A new bench has been constituted in the Supreme Court to hear the Sahara case which will take up the matter on May 19.
The CJI said that absence of timely legal help to poor affects credibility.
In a new twist, Chief Justice of India H L Dattu has refused to participate in a three-member panel for selecting two eminent persons in the six-member National Judicial Appointments Commission on whose validity a constitution bench began hearings on Monday.
Justice Nazeer, along with then Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, was in minority in the 'triple talaq' judgement which was delivered in August 2017.
"How can a court order this? To say that the judgment, a public document, be pulled down will have very serious ramifications," said a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra after taking note of the submissions of Ikanoon Software Development Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based legal website.
'Some BJP old timers have remarked that the BJP is now driven by its own high command, the way the Congress was under Mrs Gandhi, says Subir Roy.
Justice Karnan said the eight judges have "jointly committed the offences punishable under the SC/ST Atrocities Act of 1989 and amended Act of 2015.
Contempt proceedings were initiated against Justice Karnan for writing letters to various judges including the Prime Minister, accusing several judges of corruption.
Justice Gogoi will be sworn in as the next CJI on October 3, a day after Justice Misra's tenure ends.
Mathews J Nedumpara, counsel for the former judge, said Justice Karnan has been in jail without a detailed judgment and moreover, one of the seven judges of the bench, which had convicted him, has already retired.
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.
"We have repealed 1,200 laws. There were so many laws," the PM said.
Hailing from a family of lawyers from Maharashtra, he was part of a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court which in August 2017 declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right of an individual.
Justice Bobde has decided several key cases and was part of the recent historic verdict that cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.
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.
When the Chief Justice of India asked about the whereabouts of Justice Karnan, the advocate said he was 'very much in Chennai'.
He also said nation can't progress unless judiciary gets ready to handle the challenges.
Justice Misra, 63, has been a part of several key verdicts.
The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid title dispute case, the Sebi-Sahara payment row, the Aadhaar privacy issue and the Cauvery water dispute are only some of the legal puzzles he will have to deal with.
The apex court passed the order on an application moved by the Registrar of Madras high court, who is also private secretary to the chief justice, seeking an order to restrain Justice Karnan from doing any judicial work.
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday the verdict on bringing transparency in the collegium system of appointing judges in higher judiciary.
The bench directed all the courts, tribunal and commissions across the country not to consider and act on the orders passed by him after February 8.
Controversial Madras high court Judge Justice C S Karnan, who recently 'stayed' the CJI's order transferring him, has been directed to join the Calcutta high court on or before March 11.
The team comprises officials of Kolkata police, including a director general of police rank officer, Chennai police sources said, adding the whereabouts of Justice Karnan were not known.
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