Gauri Kashyap's Posts

The SC Collegium reiterated five names, highlighted delays caused by the Union, and gave insight into Union’s Considerations in appointments

Judgments on various reservation policies this year provided little clarity on what this affirmative action measure is meant to accomplish.

The number of cases filed at the SC in 2022 has begun to return to pre-pandemic numbers, as SC’s measures to provide access take root.

Breaking down four days of arguments on whether the present appointment process for Election Commission members is unconstitutional.

Two gay couples argue that they are deprived of many rights since same sex marriage is not recognised in India

A 5-Judge Bench is deciding whether the appointment process in the ECI is unconstitutional and must be reformed.

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud began his 2-year term as the Chief Justice of India today. So who is CJI Chandrachud?

Petitioners sought the Bench to form a committee to propose a standard election manifesto format to be followed by all political parties.

DESK BRIEF: How the Judges run Constitution Benches is critical to determine if the Court can be an effective custodian of the Constitution.

To be an efficient Constitutional Court, SC must devise a way to cut down length of submissions.

The Delhi HC on October 18th held that there was a valid case against Khalid for the offences he was accused of.

SCO recaps Justice Hemant Gupta's life, career, judgments, and overall tenure at the Supreme Court.

Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia delivered a split verdict in the case.

All pending charges under S66A stand deleted. Onus on government authorities to ensure the end of further use.

By the end of September, the number of pending cases at the SC fell below 70,000 for the first time this year.

A historic first in SC Livestreaming, three Constitution Bench developments, addition of a Fourth Constitution bench announced.

Union argued that the Hijab Ban promoted equality. In the EWS Challenge, they argued that the 50% reservation limit applied only for SC/STs.

Advocate Shadan Farasat argued against SC/ST exclusion from EWS reservations and suggested considering alternatives to reservation.

Advocate Shadan Farasat argued that backward classes are more likely to be economically weaker and can't be excluded from EWS Reservations.

Hearings in the challenge to reservation for economically backward citizens began. Key questions on the purpose of reservations were raised.

The Varanasi District Court rejected the argument that the Places of Worship Act disallows any investigation in the places of worship.

A 2-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court Heard Arguments Seeking a Constitution Bench Referral For the Hijab Ban Challenge

Plea for the case to be heard by a larger Bench, as it involves constitutional questions about accommodations for religious practices.

Today the SC directed the Union to submit a report on which State governments were non-compliant with the SC's Judgment Shreya Singhal.

5 years after the Supreme Court recognised privacy as a Fundamental Right, we discussed how the right came to be, and what it means.

DESK BRIEF: CJI U.U. Lalit’s short 2.5 month term may mark a turning point for the Court.

The Supreme Court live streamed Court proceedings for the first time in its history today.

The Court will hear 25 of 41 pending 5-Judge Bench cases from August 29th. Justice U.U. Lalit will begin to serve as CJI in the same week.

On July 27th, 2022, the SC held that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act must be stringent, as it was designed to tackle a heinous crime.

With the application of defection law being unclear, the SC will decide whether the case needs to be heard by a larger Bench.

DESK BRIEF: Depositions made before the Technical Committee are published on its website, but there is no other update on the investigation.

Mr. J Gopikrishnan, a journalist at The Pioneer, submitted that he had been under surveillance since 2006, since he wrote about the 2G Scam.

DESK BRIEF: The SC returns to full functioning after six weeks of summer vacation.

SC refuses to delay the impending Maharashtra floor test. Uddhav Thackarey promptly resigns as CM.

The SC decision upholding the ‘clean chit’ given to the accused in the 2002 Gujarat Riots, ends Mrs. Zakia Jafri’s long legal battle.

COVID-19 caused an unexampled surge in suo moto action taken by the Supreme Court, with 10 suo moto cases recorded in 2020.

SC judges begin summer vacation after a month of hearings on religion, administration and freedom of speech.

Sr. Adv. Trideep Pais and the Bench locked horns on whether the Court should evaluate the veracity of evidence while granting bail.

Sr. Adv. Trideep Pais listed instances where misrepresented facts 'falsely' implicated Mr. Khalid in the 2020 Delhi Riots.

During their tenure, the Chief Justice of India plays a key role in deciding the fate of the SC as an institution.

A Delhi Court denied Khalid bail, stating the facts indicated his conspiring to riot. Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have approached the Delhi HC.

We look at institution, disposal, pendency, strength of the Bench, and other factors that affected the Court in the last 10 years.

Examining institution, disposal, and pendency during the COVID-19 years and the decline in the SC’s efficiency.

Congestion at the SC sees a fourfold increase over the course of a decade reaching numbers not seen in over 30 years.

Comparing the pendency of cases during former Chief Justice Sharad Bobde’s tenure with incumbent Chief Justice N.V. Ramana.

Ramana CJI will retire on August 26th 2022. We look at important cases pending before his Bench that he inherited from former CJIs.

DESK BRIEF: Our extensive coverage of the hijab case contains reports on Karnataka HC hearings, Judgment summary and matrix, and more.

We look at gender representation in the judiciary—High Courts, Supreme Court and the Collegium— in numbers.

Concerns about vote tampering and pleas to increase verification during elections are not new, and has resurfaced again at the SC as a PIL.

A majority of the SC’s time in 2021 was spent disposing of cases that did not involve a substantial question of law.

The SC has granted 10 days to Amazon, Future and Reliance to enter into a dialogue and attempt to resolve the conflict outside of Court.

Litigation arising from complex agreements between Amazon and Future Group may decide who will rule the retail market in India.

DESK BRIEF: The Karnataka HC was grappling with the meaning of 'suvyavasthe' in the Gov Order meant 'Public Order'. Why was this important?

Translation of the Government Order instructing College Development Committees to ban hijabs in educational institutions.

Responding to the 3rd wave of COVID, the SC began virtual hearings in January. The SC will resume hybrid and physical hearings on Feb 14th.

Does the Supreme Court’s real pendency challenge arise from cases at admission stage?

In this episode we explain the Court's Judgment and Order in the PG NEET Reservations case, and take you through main arguments.

A New York Times article reveals that Indian government had bought the Pegasus spyware in 2017 as part of a $2 Billion arms deal.

DESK BRIEF: Why was a Money Bill used to pass amendments to the PMLA, even though it did not contain any finance related provisins?

DESK BRIEF: Judgments on Reservations in Promotions for SC/STs, and the suspension of 12 BJP MLAs from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

DESK BRIEF: Does the ED’s investigative powers violate the rights of persons accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002?

In this episode, we explain why the Union had halted PG NEET Exams, the challenge to the OBC and EWS Reservations in PG NEET before the SC.

The SC issued two orders on reservation policies in PG medical entrance exams and municipal elections.

DESK BRIEF: On Thursday, the Court issued an Order explaining its decision to permit reservations for OBCs in PG medical entrance exams.

Limited functioning of the Court during the pandemic has affected the number of cases instituted before the SC in 2020 and 2021

The SC on Wednesday issued notice in Qurban Ali v Union of India, a PIL filed against the alleged hate speech in Haridwar and Delhi.

DESK BRIEF: The SC observed that suspension of Assembly members for long periods through majority resolutions threatened democracy.

DESK BRIEF: The SC issued an Order allowing the Union to immediately commence counselling for admissions to postgraduate medical programmes.

DESK BRIEF: Hospitals short of 60,000 doctors as the SC hears case on reservation for OBC & EWS students in Postgraduate NEET courses.

Justice Subhash Reddy retired today after three years and two months at the Supreme Court. He was elevated in November 2018.

In 2021, the Supreme Court issued two important judgments on Statutory Tribunals.

We discuss two judgments where the Court engaged with bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).

In State of Goa v Fouziya Imtiaz Sheikh the Court emphasised that an independent Election Commission is key to India’s democracy.

The Court recognised that press freedom and privacy were allies and that the fear of surveillance is an ‘assault’ on the press.

In 2021, the Supreme Court issued three important judgments on substantive equality. 

Apart from 2017, the total number of pending cases at the SC increased every year from January to December.

Pendency of cases at the SC has increased in 2021 by 7.3%. Currently 69,555 cases are pending.

Nageswar Rao J stated that states cannot let long drawn out bureaucratic processes come in the way of providing basic amenities to children.

Since 2017, there have been 88 recommendations for transfers of HC judges and Chief Justices, 33 of which were issued on Sept 16th 2021.

The Union announced the repeal of the farm laws, but the SC has not decided on its constitutionality and the scope right to protest.

In October, the Court heard important cases on reservations, powers of the Directorate of Enforcement, and foreign funding for NGOs.

The SC issued a notice on October 7th to resume physical hearings with the option of hybrid hearing on October 20th.

Reservations in public employment for persons with disability and for SC/STs have been treated differently by the Supreme Court.

16 orders of the NGT are now before the Supreme Court on appeal. The Court will decide whether the NGT has suo moto powers.

The NGT's use of suo moto powers has been heavily debated: are the powers inherent to its functioning or should they be explicit in the Act?

Statutory tribunals’ powers are limited by their statute. Can their powers be expanded based on the purpose with which they are formed?

Courts often exercise their suo moto jurisdiction by taking up matters based on media reports or act on letters written to them.

Justice Navin Sinha retired on August 18th, 2021. He wrote 126 judgments as a Supreme Court judge during his four year tenure.

Understanding Nariman J's landmark judgments on privacy, right to life, freedom of speech, and equality.

The Supreme Court made important decisions on land acquisition,and dismissed the review petition against the Maratha judgment.

DESK BRIEF: The Court has upheld the right to reservation in promotions for persons with disability.

In 2015, the Supreme Court declared Section 66A of the IT Act unconstitutional. In 2021, it continues to be used to arrest people.

DESK BRIEF: Justice Leila Seth was the first woman to be Chief Justice of a High Court. Her autobiography tell us this was no small feat.

Over nine lakh PILs were filed in the Supreme Court between 1985-2020. The data indicates that the rate at which PILs are filed is rising.

DESK BRIEF: Sections 35 and 36 of UAPA do not specify the criteria or procedures for arrest, giving absolute powers to the state.

Bhushan J was part of 779 judgments, out of which he authored 258. Most of his judgments dealt with criminal law.

The scope of the freedom of speech and expression has a long history in terms of judicial clarification.

11.7% of all the current judges of the 25 High Courts in India, are women.

The AG’s choice of placing fidelity to the Constitution or the Government can have a significant impact on how the law is shaped.

The Supreme Court has held that persons with disabilities have a right to reservation in promotion under Article 16(4).

In this post we curate a list of must reads that look into the history, evolution and application of sedition law in the Indian context.

In this episode of SCO Explains we discuss the developments in the Supreme Court hearings on the COVID-19 National Pandemic Policy.

यूके और यूएसए में राजद्रोह के कानूनी इतिहास का पता लगाते हैं और क्या देशद्रोह अभिव्यक्ति की आज़ादी का एक अपवाद ,और अपराध है।  

Sedition originated in the UK. However, in the UK and US, the law has since been struck down or repealed. Will India follow?

In this episode of SCO Explains, we look at the Supreme Court's judgment in Lt. Col. Nitisha v. Union of India.

We look at J. Shantanagoudar’s most notable judgments while on the bench.

CJI Ramana's seven-year term as a Supreme Court judge, through numbers and key judgments.