Page 9 - Indian Judiciary

There are no big or small cases for court, every matter is important: CJI

Maintaining that the Supreme Court has made a constant endeavour to ensure access to justice for everyone, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said there are no big or small cases for the court and that every matter is important. Speaking at the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court, he said every day, the Supreme Court has hundreds of cases on its docket and the judges and the staff of the Registry put up tremendous hard work to ensure their speedy disposal. CJI Chandrachud said the top court disposed of 12,471 cases in the last three months. "For the court, there are no big or small cases every matter is important. Because it is in the seemingly small and routine matters involving grievances of citizens that issues of constitutional and jurisprudential importance emerge. In attending to such grievances, the court performs a plain constitutional duty, obligation and function," he said. Between March 23, 2020, and October 30, 2022, the apex court heard 3

Nobody taking action against hate speeches despite our orders, laments SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday lamented that nobody was taking action against hate speeches despite its orders, and observed that the top court will be left "embarrassed again and again" if it is asked to give further directions to curb such statements. The court's strong observations were made by a bench comprising Justice K M Joseph, Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Hrishikesh Roy when a plea seeking to prohibit an event scheduled to be held on February 5 by the Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha in Mumbai was mentioned for an urgent hearing. The bench agreed to hear the plea on Friday subject to instructions and approval from Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on the administrative side. "We are with you on this, but understand that the Supreme Court cannot be triggered every time there is a rally notified. We have already passed an order which is clear enough. Just imagine rallies happening all across the country. Every time there will be an application before the Supreme Court. How can that b

SC to hear pleas against laws regulating religious conversions on Feb 3

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear on February 3 a batch of pleas challenging controversial state laws regulating religious conversions due to interfaith marriages. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala noted that a transfer plea was mentioned in the morning. "We can list it, issue notice and hear it together. The transfer petition will also be numbered by then. The attorney general can also examine. We will hear all on Friday," the bench said. During the brief hearing, senior advocate CU Singh, appearing in the court on behalf of NGO "Citizens for Justice and Peace" of activist Teesta Setalwad, submitted that people cannot get married due to these state laws and the situation is very grave. Attorney General R Venkataramani submitted that these are state legislations that have been challenged before the apex court and the high courts concerned should hear the cases. The top court had earlier asked the parties challen

Put conversion matter before five-judge bench, says fresh application in SC

A fresh application has been moved before the Supreme Court urging that the matters related to alleged forcible religious conversions be taken up by a larger bench of five judges as they involve the interpretation of the Constitution. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is scheduled to hear the batch of pleas on Monday against anti-conversion laws of several states regulating religious conversion due to interfaith marriages and on matters related to alleged forcible conversions. The fresh application is filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, who is among the petitioners. He has asked the court to refer the petitions to a larger bench saying there are several questions of laws involved which require the interpretation of the Constitution. He raised questions like whether the previous judgments of this Court interpreting Article 25(1) of the Constitution are grossly erroneous in so far as they upheld the word propagate would include entitlement to convert. "Whethe

As vacancies pile up in high courts, gloves are off in Centre-SC showdown

The Central government is aggressively pursuing to have more say in judicial appointments claiming it will infuse transparency in the mechanism

Best of BS Opinion: Balance of powers, the growing divide, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Balance of powers

The constitutional bedrock should stay untouched

Delhi HC recuses from hearing review plea challenging CJI's appointment

The bench was dealing with Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari's plea, which has now been referred before another bench

Dhankhar vs SC: Congress cites Naidu's remark that Constitution is supreme

Dhankhar's virtual censure of the judiciary had come following the apex court's remarks on the issue of the collegium system

Delays, even with no jurisdiction

Judicial overreach and appropriation of power are slowing the insolvency process

Judiciary expected to follow principle of separation of powers: Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said judiciary is expected to follow the principle of separation of powers as defined in the Constitution

SC recommends Malegaon blast accused's advocate as Bombay HC judge

The Bombay High Court at present has a strength of 65 judges against a sanctioned strength of 94

More SC, ST, OBC judges in district, subordinate courts than higher courts

Lower judiciary not well-represented in proportion to the population in some states like Odisha and West Bengal

Calcutta HC Bar Association divided over attending Justice Mantha's bench

Legal brains from the Calcutta High Court feel that if the stalemate on this count continues then the fate of a number of 400 cases pending at the bench of Justice Mantha will become uncertain

Rule of law fundamental to advancement of democracy: SC judge Maheshwari

The rule of law plays a fundamental role in advancing democracy and curbing abuse of power by any branch of government, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari of the Supreme Court said here on Saturday. He was speaking on "Democracy and Judicial Legal System at an event here. Both (democracy and legal system) are extremely significant and complementary to each other. The respect for the rule of law and a well-developed justice system are the underpinnings of a democratic society and of course a modern economy also," he said. Democracy is not only a form of government but a system and process which organizes societal lives of individuals, he added. If considered not solely as the instrument of government, but as a rule to which the entire society , including the government is bound, (then) the rule of law is fundamental in advancing democracy, Justice Maheshwari said. The rule of law resolves conflicts, fosters social interest, advances predictability, equitable treatment and respect for basic

Judges should be committed to nation, not the govt: Law Minister Rijiju

The Law Minister also emphasised that people will not vote on the work of judges but their work is open for scrutiny in public opinion

Modi govt giving full support to judiciary to resolve pending cases: Rijiju

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the Centre is giving full support to the judiciary in resolving the cases pending before courts. The minister pointed out that more than five crore cases are pending before various courts across the country. Rijiju was addressing the three-day 16th national conference of the "Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad" at the Kurukshetra University campus here in Haryana. He said the government took steps to "equip" the courts well even during the COVID-19 pandemic so that the courts could function during the period. Rijiju said several politicians and mediapersons continue to spread that there is some sort of tension between the Centre and the judiciary and many a times, newspapers claim that the government is trying to "capture the authority of the judiciary". He said since Narendra Modi took over as the prime minister, the Constitution is considered a "pious book" when it comes to running the country. "The people of the country have to judge wh

Judiciary vs Executive: Can a referee become a player?

It may be inadvertent, but the VP seemed to have joined the ongoing face-off between the judiciary and the government

Court orders and govt decisions: A look back at criminal justice in 2022

Sedition, bail law, and criminal law reforms--we look at some of the major announcements for criminal justice in India

Raising judges' retirement age can benefit non-performers: Justice dept

Increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges could extend the years of service of non-performing judges and might have a cascading effect with government employees raising similar demands, the Department of Justice told a parliamentary panel. It also said increasing the retirement age of judges would be considered along with measures to ensure transparency and accountability in appointments to the higher judiciary. In July, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had informed Parliament that there is no proposal to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges. The Department of Justice made a presentation before the parliamentary panel on Personnel, Law, and Justice that is chaired by BJP MP and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi. The department in the Ministry of Law and Justice made the presentation that comprised details of judicial processes and reforms, including on the possibility of increasing the retirement age of High Court and .