The Supreme Court of India has stated that travel insurance offered to railway passengers should not be restricted only to those who book tickets online, and must also be made available to passengers purchasing tickets at reservation counters. The observation was made by a Bench of Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan while considering an issue…
In a significant decision, the Supreme Court of India has permitted passive euthanasia for a man who has remained in a permanent vegetative state for over a decade. A Bench comprising J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan allowed the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for 31-year-old Harish Rana, who suffered severe brain injuries after falling…
The Supreme Court of India has directed the Union government, through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to develop a no-fault compensation policy for individuals who experience serious adverse events after receiving COVID-19 vaccinations. In its order, the Court stated that such a framework should provide compensation without requiring affected individuals to prove negligence…
Former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana has said the government lacked will to promote gender parity in constitutional courts. While there is a substantial 40% representation of women in trial courts, the representation is not up to the mark in the Supreme Court and in High Courts. Speaking at a question-answer session during the…
The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation challenging the discharge of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in a case linked to the alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. The petition contests an earlier order of a trial court that had discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia, and…
Justice B. V. Nagarathna has suggested a reform to improve gender diversity in arbitration, proposing that every three-member arbitral tribunal should include at least one woman. While speaking at a symposium on women’s leadership in arbitration organised by the Indian Council of Arbitration in New Delhi, Justice Nagarathna highlighted the continued lack of adequate female…
The Supreme Court of India has reiterated that evidence gathered through unlawful means may still be admissible in court if it is relevant to the case. The Court explained that the primary test for admitting evidence is its relevance to the issues under consideration. Therefore, even if the method used to obtain the material was…
By Inderjit Badhwar In every democracy there are moments when institutions pause, look inward, and ask whether the systems meant to strengthen society are instead eroding public trust. The recent intervention by the Supreme Court over a controversial NCERT textbook chapter is one such moment. The apex court’s unusually sharp response—halting the circulation of a…
By Sanjay Raman Sinha In an extraordinary intervention, the Supreme Court has imposed an interim ban on the controversial National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Class 8 Social Science textbook: Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Vol II). The Court took suo motu cognisance after a section titled, Corruption in the Judiciary, triggered alarm…
By Kenneth Tiven The entire top leadership of the Iranian government was wiped out in a single, devastating strike. Yet as civilians die across the Middle East in the retaliatory attacks that followed, some Republicans in the US Congress still refuse to call the conflict a war. One lawmaker dismissed the label bluntly: “I don’t…