Forced religious conversion may pose a danger to national security and impinge on the religious freedom of citizens, the top court had said recently and asked the Centre to step in and make sincere efforts to tackle the "very serious" issue.
The electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties should not become a tool for "legitimisation of quid pro quo" between power centres and people who are benefactors of that power, the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it underscored the need for reducing the cash component in the electoral process.
The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday said the problem with electoral bonds scheme is that it provides for "selective anonymity" and "selective confidentiality" as the details are available with the State Bank of India (SBI) and can also be accessed by the law enforcement agencies.
The solicitor general said that the PM CARES Fund is a 'voluntary fund'. "It is a public trust. It is a body where you can make voluntary contributions and no budgetary allocations to the NDRF or SDRF are being touched. What has to be spent will be spent," the law officer said.
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said it is 'very very serious' if people were unable to approach the high court.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia, which was to take up the plea for hearing at 3.45 pm, adjourned the matter to September 1 due to paucity of time.
Transferring to itself a habeas corpus petition of a man alleging that his two daughters were held captive inside the premises of the Foundation, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed the Tamil Nadu police to not take any further action in pursuance of the Madras high court's direction asking it to inquire into the alleged illegal confinement of the women.
In a response to the August 3 order, the Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said till the time either the legislature or the poll panel steps in, the top court must lay down "dos and don'ts" for political parties in the 'larger national interest.'
A bench of Justices SK Kaul and AS Oka was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that he has to put some documents on record in the matter.
The delay in deciding the disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs loyal to him Friday came under strict scrutiny by the Supreme Court which came down hard on the Maharashtra assembly speaker, saying the proceedings cannot be a 'charade' and he cannot defeat its orders.
"Why is CPI-M filing a petition? What is the fundamental right that is being violated? Not at the behest of political parties. This is not the platform. You go to the high court," the bench said.
"A CBI probe is ongoing into transfers and postings of state police officers made during former home minister Anil Deshmukh's tenure. Then the next in line (to be probed) is the Director General of Police, who is the fulcrum, who is at the heart of the issue of transfers and postings. So having the former DGP head the investigation is like having Anil Deshmukh investigate it himself," the state's lawyer told the Bombay High Court.
He added that the legislation is similar to laws that exist elsewhere in defining specific criteria for citizenship pathways.
The Supreme Court Monday termed as 'horrendous' the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur and sought information about steps taken so far in the first information reports (FIRs) lodged, saying now it will not want the state police to probe the matter as they virtually handed over the women to the rioting mob.
Extending the interim bail till April 10, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the facts that three FIRs were lodged against Khera.
The Centre referred to the controversial judgement of the US Supreme Court in the Dobbs case in support of its contention that the judiciary should not venture into the domain of the legislature.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas, including those seeking review of some verdicts of 2011 which had held that mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence.
The Solicitor General had told the bench that several members of the National Disaster Response Force were working at the site and instead of the army, the government has sent navy personnel there as the mine was submerged in water.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the plea for interim bail of former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh who along with others is accused of misappropriating Rs 2,397 crore of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) funds. Singh had sought interim bail for a short period on "humanitarian grounds" for helping his ailing mother to take part in the last rituals of his maternal uncle, who died on March 8 in Haryana. "We are of the opinion that the presence of the accused was not a must...," said a bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna while dismissing the plea.
The RSS-inspired weekly Organiser has come out against granting legal validity to same sex marriage, an issue being heard by the Supreme Court, and argued that the Indic perspective should be central to any deliberation on marital topics.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to file an affidavit on the issue of proposed change in land use of a plot where the new official residences of the vice-president and the prime minister are stipulated as part of the ambitious Central Vista project in Lutyens' Delhi.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra assembly speaker to spell out the timeline within a week for adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs loyal to him who had tied up with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a new government in June 2022.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana-led bench was irked over the increasing number of reports regarding delay in implementation of the orders passed by the top court and has recently taken suo motu cognisance of news reports of delay by Uttar Pradesh authorities in releasing 13 prisoners who were granted bail by it on July 8.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear on December 6 the plea of a Congress leader challenging a recent notification by which the sale of electoral bonds has been extended by 15 more days in the year of general elections to legislative assemblies of states and Union territories (UTs) with a legislature.
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it has filed a fresh plea seeking reference to a larger bench a matter involving a constitutional issue related to the control of services in the national capital.
"The finality of death sentence is extremely important and a condemned prisoner should not be under the impression, that the death sentence remains open ended and can be questioned by them all the time," the SC said.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said it will not interfere with the high court order granting bail to Teltumbde.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Kumar, said that his client be granted bail as if something happens to him in jail then his life imprisonment would become death penalty for him.
Terming the rape and murder case of a medic at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as horrific, the Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the West Bengal government over delay in filing first information report (FIR) in the matter.
Days after the Supreme Court held as "illegal" the extension of ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra's tenure, the Centre on Wednesday moved the apex court seeking modification of its order to allow him to continue in office till October 15 in view of the ongoing FATF review.
The issue of criminalisation of marital rape involves 'family issues' as well as the dignity of a woman and cannot be looked at from a 'microscopic angle,' the Centre on Monday told the Delhi high court as it said that it was not possible for it to immediately respond with its stand.
The bench refused to entertain the plea filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and dismissed it.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear on October 31 a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to refer pleas related to the June 2022 Maharashtra political crisis triggered by the Shiv Sena's division to a seven-judge bench for reconsideration of the 2016 Nabam Rebia judgment.
A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao refused to entertain an application seeking a direction to the Centre to ask all district magistrates to identify stranded migrant workers and provide shelter, food to them before ensuring their free transportation to native places in view of the recent incident at Aurangabad in which 16 workers were mowed down by a goods train.
The senior Congress leader's role has come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.
"India cannot be the refugee capital of the world," the Solicitor General said, adding there was a need to re-look the draft NRC list through sample verification.
The Delhi high court is scheduled to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking the criminalisation of marital rape.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday termed Justice Ajay Rastogi, who will be demitting office on June 17, a "great ally" who possessed judicial compassion and sensitivity for every cause.
In a setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that states have the legislative competence to impose taxes on mines and minerals-bearing lands under the Constitution.