Chief Justice of India-designate Justice Surya Kant has observed that after more than seven decades of uninterrupted constitutional adjudication, it was both logical and institutionally necessary for the Supreme Court to increasingly rely on an indigenous judicial philosophy rather than borrowing doctrines from foreign legal systems. Justice Kant, who will take office as the 53rd…
Outgoing Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Sunday underscored that judicial independence constituted a non-negotiable constitutional imperative and could not be reduced to the simplistic presumption that an impartial judge must, as a matter of course, rule against the current regime. Addressing reporters at his official residence on the eve of his demitting office,…
Outgoing Chief Justice of India BR Gavai has described the absence of a woman appointment to the Supreme Court during his tenure as one of his major regrets. Speaking at a valedictory function held in his honour at the Supreme Court Ladies Bar Room earlier this week, the CJI noted that while the Collegium consistently…
By Samyak Mordia The scales of Indian justice are famously, and unarguably, overburdened. With crores of cases pending, the journey through our complex and labyrinthine legal system can feel endless, with cases often stretching across decades, a reality that tests the patience of ordinary citizens and clogs the wheels of progress. On the streets of…
By Sujit Bhar In a landmark verdict with far-reaching implications for the country’s tribal communities and India’s environmental jurisprudence, the Supreme Court judgment concerning the Saranda forest in Jharkhand has emerged as a powerful precedent for how India can balance conservation imperatives with the constitutional and statutory protections granted to forest-dwelling communities. Delivered by a…
By Kenneth Tiven The sweeping dismissal of legal staff unwilling to pledge loyalty to US President Donald Trump has transformed the Department of Justice (DOJ) into what many career officials now call the Department of Retribution—a hollowed-out version of its historic role. What appeared as warning signs during Trump’s first term has hardened into a…
By Kumkum Chadha Ladakh continues to be restive. The violence has ebbed, but what has not is the frustration of the people in the hill state and the government’s targeting of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk. All pleas to release him have gone unheeded and Wangchuk continues to remain behind bars: “We believe he is innocent….
By Dr Swati Jindal Garg Reasserting that “there is a place for everything, and everything must be in its place,” the Supreme Court has once again pulled up trial judges for addressing requests directly to the apex court seeking extensions of time to complete trials. The Court emphasised that such communication must route strictly through…
By Dilip Bobb Recently, while delivering the Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial lecture, the chief justice of India admitted that the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Tukaram vs State of Maharashtra case—popularly known as the Mathura case—reflected a deeply regressive and patriarchal understanding of consent, effectively denying the social context of “power, coercion and vulnerability in…
The Supreme Court has refused to appoint an arbitrator in an international commercial dispute on the grounds that Indian courts did not have jurisdiction under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, in cases where the main contract specified a foreign governing law and a foreign seat of arbitration. The Division Bench of…