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The Supreme Court ruled that the concentration of a religious community in a particular area is not a valid reason to deny permission to another religious community to hold events or prayer meetings. The court also ruled that religious processions cannot be rejected based on religious grounds.
05 February, 2024
Judiciary
Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai has been nominated as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) recently. The SCLSC is a statutory body constituted under Section 3A of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. It gives free legal services to the poor, marginalized, and unprivileged.
17 January, 2024
Judiciary
"Who are entitled to receive free legal aid? Assess the role of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in rendering free legal aid in India" important for PAPER-2 UPSC examination Mains. Article 39-A of the Constitution in Directive Principle of State Policy mandates universal access to free legal aid, aiming to establish a legal framework that upholds justice without regard to social or economic distinctions. This constitutional provision led to the enactment of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, giving rise to the formation of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). Apart from this Article 14 and Article 22(1) are…
16 January, 2024
Judiciary
The Supreme Court has delivered several landmark judgments in 2023. S.No Name of the Case Judgement 1 Vivek Narayan Sharma v. Union of India Upheld the decision taken by the Union Government to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denominations and held that it satisfies the test of proportionality. 2 Joseph Shine v Union of India Armed forces can take action against their officers for adulterous acts. Joseph Shine v Union of India, 2018 that decriminalised adultery does not prevent court martial proceedings initiated against members of the armed forces for adulterous conduct. 3 Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India The Chief Election…
07 January, 2024
Judiciary
Nearly 1/5th of the district courts in India lack separate toilets for women, according to a report published by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court recently. The Centre for Research and Planning will serve as a bridge between academic research, legal and judicial education and the judicial systems.
06 January, 2024
Judiciary
Article 312 of the Constitution provides for the establishment of All India Judicial Service (AIJS), which shall not include any post inferior to that of a District Judge. The constitutional provision enables creation of the AIJS at District Judge level. In Government's view, a properly framed All India Judicial Service is important to strengthen overall justice delivery system. This will give an opportunity for induction of suitably qualified fresh legal talent selected through a proper all-India merit selection system as well as address the issue of social inclusion by enabling suitable representation to marginalized and deprived sections of society. A…
08 December, 2023
Judiciary
Article 145 – It says that a special bench of SC that comprises of at least 5 judges and deals with matters involving substantial question of law as to interpretation of the Constitution or the power of the President to consult the Court (Article 143). Article 137- It empowers the Supreme Court with the judicial review through which it can declare any law as void when it is unconstitutional or in derogation with the Fundamental Rights. Article 13- The laws which are contrary to the Fundamental Rights are declared as void by the judiciary. Article 50 – It ensures the separation of Judiciary from Executive.…
29 November, 2023
Judiciary
Court Vacations The Supreme Court will not have a holiday bench when it takes its yearly winter vacation, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) recently stated. Although this court calendar has colonial origins, it has been the target of criticism for a while. How do Court Vacations work? Approximately: The High Court functions for about 210 days per year, the Supreme Court for 193 working days, and trial courts for 245 working days. High Courts have the authority to organise their schedules in accordance with the service regulations. The summer and winter recesses, which the Supreme Court takes twice a…
23 December, 2022
Judiciary
Status of Indian judiciary Some experts recently suggested that India's judicial system be overhauled. Introduction British colonial legacy: The Indian judicial system is based on recorded judicial precedents that were inherited from the British colonial legacy. The Indian court system is hierarchical, with the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, and subordinate courts at the district, municipal, and village levels. Article 141: The Supreme Court's decisions on the constitutional validity of enacted legislation, including constitutional amendments, are binding on all other courts and authorities in the country (Article 141). There is no area of legislative or executive activity that escapes…
17 November, 2022
Judiciary
Collegium System The Supreme Court Collegium system has recently come under fire from the Union Minister of Law and Justice for being opaque and without accountability. The Indian Constitution's Articles 124(2) and 217 address the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts, respectively. How Did the Collegium System Develop? Rather than being established by a law passed by Parliament or a clause in the Constitution, the Collegium system for the appointment and transfer of judges has developed as a result of Supreme Court decisions. Changes to the System: 1981's First Judges Case: It stated that "cogent reasons"…
10 November, 2022
Judiciary
Post-retirement Allowances to Supreme Court Judges Image source - Fresh Headline The government recently changed the rules and boosted the post-retirement benefits for justices of the Supreme Court (SC). Major Points Present: The Center added post-retirement allowances to the Supreme Court judges' service regulations. The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act of 1958 authorised the amendment of the regulations. The modifications take effect right away. Background: one day later, on August 26, CJI N V Ramana will step down from his position. New Rules It permits retired SC judges, including the CJI, to continue using a driver…
25 August, 2022
Judiciary
Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) To bring more stringent provisions and expeditious trial and disposal of such cases, the Central Government enacted "The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018" and made provisions of stringent punishment including the death penalty for perpetrators of rape. This led to the establishment of the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs). Fast Track Special Courts are dedicated courts expected to ensure swift dispensation of justice. They have a better clearance rate as compared to the regular courts and hold speedy trials. Besides providing quick justice to the hapless victims, it strengthens the deterrence framework for sexual offenders.…
05 August, 2021
Judiciary
Judicial Appointments and Vacancies in India Judicial Vacancies have been an issue in the Indian Judiciary for a long time now. Click here to read more on the UPSC Facts and Data for Vacancies in the Indian Judiciary. Some Constitutional Provisions related to appoint of Judges Article 124(2) of the Indian Constitution provides that the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with such a number of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose. Article 217 of the Indian Constitution states that the Judge of a High…
23 July, 2021
Judiciary
eCourts Project of Supreme Court In another major initiative, the committee Supreme Court has prepared the draft vision document for Phase III of the eCourts Project under the auspices of the Supreme court of India. E-Courts Project is a mission mode project undertaken by the Department of Justice, Government of India. The eCommittee Supreme Court of India yesterday released the Draft Vision document for Phase III of the aforementioned e-Courts Project. The eCommittee of the Supreme Court has been overseeing the implementation of the eCourts Project, conceptualized under the "National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication…
23 May, 2021
Judiciary
Judicial federalism in India Introduction In comparison to the legislature and the executive, what the judiciary can deliver in the realm of socio-economic rights is limited. Courts cannot build better health infrastructure or directly supply oxygen; neither are they functionally bound to. Courts often lack the expertise and resources to decide social rights issues. Parmanand Katara v. Union of India (1989) In Parmanand Katara v. Union of India (1989), the Supreme Court underlined the value of human lives and said that the right to emergency medical treatment is part of the citizen’s fundamental rights. As such, constitutional courts owe a…
26 April, 2021
Judiciary
Appointment of Ad hoc judges Introduction The Supreme Court’s decision to invoke Article 224A in the Constitution to clear the way for the appointment of retired judges as ad hoc judges to clear the mounting arrears in the various High Courts is an indictment of the extraordinary delay in filling up judicial vacancies. Huge vacancy in High court Whether the fault lies with the Collegium system or the Centre’s tardiness, there is little doubt that the unacceptable delay in the appointment process in recent times has caused huge vacancies in the High Courts. Article 224A Under Article 224A of the Constitution,…
23 April, 2021
Judiciary
Delay In Judicial Appointments In light of the extraordinary delay in filling up judicial vacancies and to clear the mounting arrears in the various High Courts, the Supreme Court decided to invoke a “dormant provision” in the Constitution to clear the way for the appointment of retired judges as ad hoc judges. Article 224A of the Constitution, which provides for appointment of ad hoc judges in the High Courts based on their consent. A Bench headed by CJI S.A. Bobde has made it clear that “the challenge of mounting arrears and existing vacancies requires recourse to Article 224A”. The Court…
20 April, 2021
Judiciary
Judicial Appointments Context: CJI Sharad A. Bobde had recommended Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court, for appointment as the 48th Chief Justice of India. About NV Ramana: Student leader working for farmers and industrial workers to journalist for a leading Telugu newspaper to a first-generation lawyer. He was Additional Advocate General for Andhra Pradesh before being called to the State High Court Bench in 2001. Justice Ramana was the Delhi High Court Chief Justice prior to his elevation to the apex court. As CJI, Justice Ramana has a tenure of 16 months. Responsible for making…
12 April, 2021
Judiciary
Online Dispute Resolution in India NITI Aayog recently released a handbook on the Online Dispute Resolution mechanism. ODR has the potential to decentralize, diversify, democratize, and disentangle the justice delivery mechanism in India’s courts. Present Scenario in India’s Courts & Associated Issues The pendency of over 40 million cases in our judicial system remains a focal point for reform and reduction. This pendency makes a strong case for online dispute resolution (ODR). Nearly a third of these cases have been pending for 3 to 30 years. They are pending due to resource-dwindling litigation, case adjudication and difficulty in consensus resolution. There…
10 April, 2021
Judiciary
Phase III eCourts Project of Supreme Court In another major initiative, the eCommittee Supreme Court has prepared the draft vision document for Phase III of the eCourts Project under the auspices of the Supreme court of India. E-Courts Project is a mission mode project undertaken by the Department of Justice, Government of India. The eCommittee Supreme Court of India yesterday released the Draft Vision document for Phase III of the aforementioned e-Courts Project. The eCommittee of the Supreme Court has been overseeing the implementation of the eCourts Project, conceptualized under the "National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information…
04 April, 2021
Judiciary
Vacancies in Judiciary Over 60% of the sanctioned strength of judges was vacant at Patna High Court. High Courts with highest vacancy was in Patna(60%) > Calcutta(55.6%) > RJ(54%) > MP(49.1%) > (48.6%). High courts with lowest vacancy MN(0%) > ML(0%) > SK(0%) > KR(14.9%) > Guwahati(16.7%). Huge workload: Judges in high courts hear between 20 and 150 cases every day, or an average of 70 hearings daily. The average time that the judges have for each hearing could be as little as 2 minutes. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has pulled up State governments and the…
27 March, 2021
Judiciary
Bangkok General Guidance for Judges in Applying a Gender Perspective Background The Bangkok General Guidance for Judges in Applying a Gender Perspective was discussed and adopted by judges from Philippines in 24 to 25 June 2016, hosted by the ICJ and UN Women. The idea to initiate the development of the Bangkok General Guidance emerged from the ASEAN Regional Dialogue on Judging with a Gender Perspective, which was held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2015. General Guidance The Bangkok General Guidance can make a powerful contribution toward achieving gender equality under the law in Southeast Asia. It is crucial that judges…
24 March, 2021
Judiciary
Patriarchal mind-set within the Judiciary NCRB data on women related crimes A survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2018 had rated India as the most dangerous country for women. According to a National Crime Records Bureau report (2019) as many as 32,032 rapes were reported in 2019 — or 88 incidents of rape a day. Every hour, 39 instances of crime against women including four instances of rape are committed in India. Reported rape cases have increased by 88% over a decade. Four lakh cases of crimes against women were reported in 2019. Gender insensitivity The recent observations by…
10 March, 2021
Judiciary
Judicial Appointments in India What is Collegium? Collegium system of the Supreme Court (SC) and the High Courts (HCs) of India is based on the precedence established by the “Three Judges Cases (1982, 1993, 1998) “. It is a legally valid system of appointment and transfer of judges in the SC and all HCs. It is a system of checks and balance, which ensures the independence of the senior judiciary in India. The Judges Cases The First Judges Case (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective. However, it rejected…
28 January, 2021
Judiciary
Judicial Appointments and Vacancies in India Judicial Vacancies has been the issue of Indian Judiciary since a long time now. Click here to read more on the UPSC Facts and Data for Vacancies in Indian Judiciary. Some Constitutional Provisions related to appoint of Judges Article 124(2) of the Indian Constitution provides that the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President after consultation with such a number of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose. Article 217 of the Indian Constitution states that the Judge of a High Court shall…
28 January, 2021
Judiciary
Judicial Activism and Marriage Laws The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the provision of publication of notice of intended marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, is not mandatory. The court, in a significant judgment delivered on January 12, said making such publication mandatory “would invade the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy, including within its sphere the freedom to choose for marriage without interference from state and non-state actors, of the persons concerned”. A Bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary mandated that while giving notice under Section 5 of the Act, it shall be optional for the parties to…
14 January, 2021
Judiciary
Amid a judicial slide, a flicker of hope on rights By, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah is retired Chief Justice, Delhi and Madras High Courts, and former Chairperson, Law Commission of India An expeditious hearing The application before the Supreme Court was in an appeal against the decision of the Bombay High Court to refuse to entertain Mr. Goswami’s habeas corpus petition, citing procedure that no bail can be granted in a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution and requiring him to apply to a lower court for appropriate relief. The Bombay High Court, in issuing that order, merely followed…
19 November, 2020
Judiciary
Changing the discourse on victim jurisprudence Context Supreme Court has led the movement for recognition of victim rights to access to justice, compensation and assistance, little has changed in terms of both the black letter of the law and the ground realities. There is an overwhelming need to re-conceptualise the institutions of our criminal justice system to account for victims both at the pre- and post-crime levels. As opposed to post-crime mitigation and rehabilitation, a pre-crime conceptualisation of victimisation is geared towards prevention. Crime Prevention: Crime prevention is an oft-cited but least studied aspect of our criminal justice system. Examination…
18 November, 2020
Judiciary
In- House Procedure Against Judges of Higher Judiciary What is in the News? Recently, in a letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has accused the Supreme Court judge, Justice N.V. Ramana and some judges of Andhra Pradesh (AP) High Court of misconduct, corruption and political bias. The allegation against the judges is unprecedented since it has been made publicly. What are the Issues Involved? The Constitution of India protects the independence of judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court by making them removable only through a process of impeachment. Article 121 and…
27 October, 2020
Judiciary
Contempt of Court GS-PAPER-2 Governance (Mains-I.V) Recently, the Supreme Court of India initiated the proceedings for criminal contempt of court against lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan. The contempt charges were lodged in the context of the comment made on social media, targeting the current Chief Justice of India. The contempt power is needed to punish wilful disobedience to court orders (civil contempt), as well as interference in the administration of justice and overt threats to judges. The reason why the concept of contempt exists is to insulate the institution from unfair criticism and prevent a fall in the judiciary’s reputation in the public eye.…
05 August, 2020
Judiciary
Supreme Court ruling- disqualification petitions In January 2020, a three-judge bench of the SC expressed its displeasure with the Speaker’s lack of urgency in deciding the disqualification petitions. It ruled that Speakers of assemblies and the Parliament must decide disqualification pleas within a period of 3 months. Extraordinary circumstances are exceptions to this. The ruling settled the law for situations where the timing of the disqualification is misused to manipulate floor tests. The court also recommended the Parliament to consider taking a relook at the powers of the Speakers, citing instances of partisanship. The court also suggested independent tribunals to decide on disqualifications. In…
28 June, 2020
Judiciary
Rule of Law Index It is released by the World Justice Project, an independent organisation.It is a quantitative assessment tool designed to offer a detailed and comprehensive picture of the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law in practice. The World Justice Project defines the rule of law system as one in which the following four universal principles are upheld: The government and its officials and agents are accountable under the law. The laws are clear, publicized, stable and fair, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property. The process by which the laws…
26 June, 2020
Judiciary
Restrictions on Court Hearings Lawful Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Judiciary Recently, the Supreme Court held that all restrictions imposed on people from entering, attending or taking part in court hearings are lawful in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court said these restrictions were in tune with the social distancing norms and best public health practices advocated to contain Covid-19. Duty vs Discretion: The apex court invoked its extraordinary Constitutional powers under Article 142 to step away from the convention of open court hearings. It further clarified that use of this extraordinary power was not a matter of discretion but of duty. Convention vs Public Health: Although the open…
08 April, 2020
Judiciary
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