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 on Friday allowed women of all ages in the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala. While Justices R F Nariman and D Y Chandrachud concurred with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar on the ruling that banning the entry of women in the temple is gender discrimination and the practice violates the rights of Hindu women, Justice Indu Malhotra gave a dissenting verdict. Here are highlights of her judgment.
The base camps of Pamba and Nilackal witnessed intensified protests as the Lord Ayyappa temple opens for the five-day monthly pooja on Wednesday evening, for the first time after the landmark top court verdict.
The year is coming to an end and overall, it's been one hell of a year! We have had our share of ups and downs and we look forward to a better 2020. While we count down the days to the new year, let's also reflect on those who gave us strength to stand up in what we believe, the courageous who didn't bow down and the ones with gumption who inspired us to be better. We, Rediff.com, have selected 26 personalities, who we think are worthy of the title -- HERO OF THE YEAR -- and we want you, dear readers, to choose your hero!
About 12 lakh women attended the last festival, but the Guinness authorities have taken the figures from 1997, when about 15 lakh women turned up.
Rehana Fathima, a woman's right activist, was facing charges under various provisions of the POCSO, Juvenile Justice and the Information Technology (IT) Acts for circulating a video in which she was seen posing semi-nude for her minor children, allowing them to paint on her body.
'It is time again for Durga Puja.' 'Time again to be struck by India's astonishing cultural irony, one where the female form is worshipped as divinity while millions of real women are forced to lead restricted lives,' notes Shuma Raha.
Justice Gogoi's tenure as judge and as CJI was marked by some controversies and personal allegations but that never came in his way of his judicial work that was reflected in the last few days when benches headed by him delivered some path-breaking judgments.
'The judicial procedure was influenced which led to no convictions in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984'
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.
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.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
At his farewell function, CJI Dipak Misra said that tears of a poor man is equal to tears of a rich man.
'The path of militant Hindutva that the BJP's national leadership chose as its main electoral plank literally dug the grave for the party in Kerala,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
Keralites celebrated harvest festival 'Vishu' on Sunday with traditional fervour and gaiety, looking ahead to a season of peace and prosperity.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-National Democratic Alliance, which fought the April 2 assembly polls with the fancy claim of winning at least 35 seats in Kerala, on Sunday came a cropper as it failed to retain even its lone segment Nemom, even as all its major contestants, including 'Metroman' E Sreedharan and party state chief K Surendran, fell by the wayside.
Awful religious practices need to be abolished. But through social and political reformers, not by courts, argues Shekhar Gupta.
The hill shrine had been witnessing protests by devotees and right wing groups against the government's decision to implement the September 28 Supreme Court verdict, permitting women of all age groups to offer prayers at the temple.
From the Aadhaar verdict to #MeToo's arrival in the country to the entry into the Sabarimala temple -- India had a newsworthy 2018. As we step into 2019, these are the top moments from the year gone by.
It is increasingly clear that for the BJP to try and establish itself as an electoral force in Tamil Nadu, the party has to come out of the old Brahminical mould, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'...that has plants and flowers of all colours and hues in it.' 'Do you think a garden with just one plant or one type of flower will be appealing?' 'No. It will look drab, uninteresting and lustreless because a garden would be captivating only if it had many flowers of different colours.'
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Pongala falls on the penultimate day of the 10-day festival at Attukal temple. Boiling earthen pots spread around 6 km around the city premises headlined the festive spirit. All roads in Thiruvananthapuram led to the Attukal temple on Tuesday with celebrities conducting the rituals shoulder to shoulder with the common women.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the stay granted by Bombay High Court to facilitate an appeal against its decision to lift the ban on entry of women near the sanctum sanctorum of the famous Haji Ali Dargah till October 24, when it will hear the matter.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We just cannot accept the interference of the government in matters concerning religion and faith.'
Could the Haji Ali dargah verdict be the beginning of the end of all social discrimination -- against women, against Dalits, the low castes and the caste-less, asks Durba Dhyani.
There is an acute imbalance of power between the various organs of the State, including the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and the ultimate sovereign -- the people, argues R Jagannathan.
'While the Congressmen were fighting, the LDF was quietly doing its job, perhaps bringing in results in the lives of the people.' 'Pinarayi Vijayan and several ministers in his cabinet believed that the government should do real business, which is not to fight with the UDF but govern.'
Interim president of the Congress party in Kerala M M Hassan has courted a controversy with his remarks that menstruation was impure and women should not enter temples during that period.
It was the year 'anti-national' became the 'it' gaali, and our humble haldi-doodh became the toast of the West's wellness brigade as 'Tumeric Latte.' It was the year 'cash' became unholy and 'fake news' became real. Shuma Raha looks back.
CMO confirmed that Kerala had not figured in the list of states which would be presenting their tableaux on the R-day, but was yet to get an official communication in this regard.
'It is entirely possible that there are many treasures of our history and our faith buried deep underground,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Reservation is an albatross whose continuation under the current system risks creating deep fissures in our society, warns Vikram Johri.
"We direct the government to either bring in a law or an ordinance (for the construction of the Ram temple). There will be no compromise on this," Ramanandacharya Hansdevacharya, the patron of the ABSS, said in his concluding remarks at the conclave.
The stampede on the banks of Godavari River in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh added to India's notoriety for deaths due to such accidents, when sudden, uncontrollable crowds surge out of control.
Women will be granted access to the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali shrine in Mumbai on par with men
'What authority has a secular government to administer Hindu temples? When Hindu temples are ruled by secular governments, what religious freedom do Hindus have?'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances