The Supreme Court on Wednesday expunged the observations made by a single judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court against the apex court in a contempt case, saying they were "scandalous" and "unwarranted".
The CJI said that to keep police excesses in check, dissemination of information about the constitutional right to legal aid and availability of free legal aid services is necessary.
Justice Lalit said, "The element was purely based on circumstantial evidence. Law is clear that facts must point only in direction of the guilt of that man, unless and until that guilt is completely established, circumstantial evidence case theory is not to be accepted."
What sustains judicial institutions in the long run is the sense of compassion, sense of empathy and ability to answer cries of citizens, he said.
The Centre on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court not to hear this week the pleas on the vexed legal question of whether a husband should enjoy immunity from prosecution for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sex.
While some hailed it, others questioned it raising a controversy by saying Justice Bobde was neither wearing a mask nor a helmet.
'It has changed the political character of India by ejecting socialism as an ideology from the Constitution of India.'
Justice Bhushan, who was elevated as an apex court judge on May 13, 2016, was part of several landmark judgements including the November 2019 verdict by a five-judge Constitution bench which cleared the way for construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque.
Within a span of little over a month since Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud assumed office, the Supreme Court has disposed of 6,844 cases, including 2,511 bail and transfer petitions, sources said.
In a far-reaching verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the "purity" of the electoral process.
Justice Bobde, who decided several key cases during his tenure including the historic Ayodhya verdict, was administered oath as the 47th CJI in November 2019 and retired on Friday.
Prior to the swearing-in of Justices Hima Kohli, Nagarathna and Bela M Trivedi, only eight women judges, including sitting judge Justice Indira Banerjee, were appointed as apex court judges.
Following is the chronology of events in the case related to validity of the electoral bonds scheme, a mode of funding to political parties, in which a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a landmark verdict annulling it.
Justice Ramana said the body was required to be "created under a statute" clearly defining its powers, functions, and duties.
Activist Saket Gokhale had sought consent, a condition precedent for initiating criminal contempt proceedings, of the top-most law officer to initiate the case against the former CJI who had reportedly said at an event that the judiciary is "ramshackled" and it is quite unlikely for a person to get a timely verdict.
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.
The Supreme Court verdict on mining royalty case will give a further jolt to the Indian mining industry and will have very large financial implications, as arrears may work out to the tune of more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore, industry players said on Wednesday. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the power of states to levy tax on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land, and allowed them to seek refund of royalty from April 1, 2005 onwards. According to a senior mines ministry official, the verdict will have a very large financial impact on mining, steel, power and coal companies.
The Tirupati Laddu row intensified on Friday with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is managing the super-rich temple, backing Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu's claim that the famous 'prasadam' had animal fat and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy dubbing the accusations as 'atrocious'.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that Karnataka high court judge Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, who had made those observations, had on September 21 tendered an apology for his comments in the open court there.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list for an early hearing the appeal of US-based creditor Glas Trust Company LLC against a judgment of the NCLAT, which had stayed insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's and approving its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the BCCI. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by senior advocate NK Kaul, appearing for the ed-tech major, that the case needed to be heard at the earliest.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwla and Manoj Misra, however, agrees to hear as many as 10 petitions of the Bihar government against the Patna HC verdict.
The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a plea challenging a Bombay high court verdict upholding a Mumbai college's decision to ban hijabs, burqas and naqabs inside the campus.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has agreed to meet the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association on November 21 in view of the ongoing protest by lawyers opposing the Supreme Court collegium's recommendation to transfer Justice Nikhil S Kariel to Patna high court.
The Supreme Court on Monday took exception to making the Chief Justice of India one of the party respondents in a plea challenging the designation of lawyers as senior advocates.
The SC said at most it can give directions to the authorities to make the situation better and for that it needs assistance of different groups and positive suggestions.
A Supreme Court bench, in a rare instance, has expressed displeasure in its judicial order over a new case listing mechanism introduced by Chief Justice U U Lalit for speedy disposal of matters pending for years.
The bench asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre's counsel.
The apex court registry refused to accept the application, saying since Kejriwal was given liberty to move the trial court for regular bail, the plea is not maintainable.
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'.
Over 250 eminent citizens, including former judges and ambassadors, have written to the President and Chief Justice of India calling for strong action against online news portal NewsClick, which is alleged to have received dubious funds from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham to spread Chinese propaganda.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the plea for an SIT probe into the damage to public properties during the protests against Agnipath will be listed for hearing after the Chief Justice of India takes a decision in this regard.
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.
According to a notification issued by the government, Justice Ramana would take over as the 48th CJI on April 24 after incumbent CJI S A Bobde demits office a day before. Justice Ramana would retire on August 26, 2022.
"Day in day out there exists a misconception in the minds of people that judges stay in big bungalows, work only 10 AM to 4 PM and enjoy their holidays. Such a narrative is untrue," Chief Justice N V Ramana said on Thursday while paying glowing tributes to Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman on his superannuation after over seven years at the Supreme Court bench.
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.
He will be the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to Rajya Sabha. Former Chief Justice Ranganath Misra was also a Rajya Sabha member but he was elected on a Congress party ticket.
Justice S A Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, along with N V Ramana and Indira Banerjee will conduct an in-house inquiry into the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
Kangana Ranaut's film Emergency didn't get any relief on Wednesday from the Bombay high court which refused to pass any order in the wake of a directive by the Madhya Pradesh HC directing Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to consider objections to the movie before certifying it.
Two vacancies of election commissioners have arisen following the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel and Anup Chandra Pandey's retirement.
The Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people were killed in violence during a farmers' protest, with a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana scheduled to hear the matter on Thursday.
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