Amid a tussle with the government over the collegium system, the Supreme Court saw three CJIs in 2022, while it delivered important judgments upholding the SIT’s clean chit to the then chief minister of Gujarat. Narendra Modi In the 2002 riots, the controversial money laundering law and the 10 per cent EWS quota in admission and government jobs.
The unrelenting assault on the judiciary by the Center under Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, on issues ranging from collegium system to bail and listing of frivolous public interest litigations to long court holidays, drew a scathing response from the apex court, which not only Lashed out on the delay in approving names for judgeship in the top court, but also said that “what for” does it exist if it does not deal with infringement of personal liberty.
The apex court has seen three chief justices in its 72-year-long history India (CJI) in a year for the second time after 2002. NV Ramana, who becomes the 48th CJI in April 2021, retires in August 2022, followed by UU Lalit. The incumbent DY Chandrachud assumed office as the 50th Chief Justice of India on 9 November.
Justice Chandrachud’s appointment created a record when he replaced his dubious father YV Chandrachud, 44 years after he became the CJI. Justice YV Chandrachud held the position for the longest time by a CJI from February 22, 1978 to July 11, 1985.
The three CJIs together recommended eight names for Supreme Court judgeship in 2022. Of those recommended, three made the cut, while five names are yet to be cleared by the government.
In order to bring transparency in its functioning, the apex court took revolutionary steps by introducing live-streaming of the proceedings of constitution benches, devised a new mechanism for listing of cases, launched an online RTI portal and also launched a mobile app. Also launched the upgraded version. The advocate presence portal is being operated from the new year to register presence in the cases.
Several constitution benches were set up during the year, which heard cases related to the Delhi-Centre row over powers, demonetisation, Jallikattu, the Maharashtra political crisis, and petitions seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of the chief. Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner.
Cases related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi also grabbed headlines in the apex court, which upheld the SIT’s clean chit to the Gujarat chief minister and 63 others in the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2002 Godhra riots.
It also set up an inquiry panel headed by a former apex court judge to probe the security lapses during Modi’s visit to Punjab earlier this year, which then turned into a major political row between the Center and the Congress-ruled state. I went. In a path-breaking judgement, a five-judge bench, by a 3:2 majority, upheld the 10 per cent reservation introduced in 2019 for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs, which includes SC/ST The poor were not included. ST/OBC category, saying it does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
The top court delivered another significant ruling when it upheld the Enforcement Directorate’s powers to arrest, seize, search and seize property involved in money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The controversy over alleged unauthorized use of Pegasus also came under scrutiny by the top court, which said its committee found some malware in five of the 29 mobile phones it examined, but could not conclude whether it was Israeli spyware. The reason was
In 2022, the apex court stayed the controversial colonial-era penal law on sedition until it was re-examined by an “appropriate” government forum and directed the Center and states to determine whether the crime Do not file any new FIR citing citation.
The apex court, which laid emphasis on upholding the personal liberty of citizens, also dealt with cases involving activists including GN Saibaba, P Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde.
While the apex court suspended the Bombay High Court order acquitting former DU professor GN Saibaba and others in a Maoist-linkage case, it granted medical bail to 82-year-old poet and activist P Varavara Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case . field.
The top court, which dismissed the NIA’s plea challenging the bail granted by the Bombay High Court to scholar-activist Anand Teltumbde in the Maoist link case, also allowed Gautam Navlakha, who was arrested in Navi Mumbai in connection with a similar case Was lodged in Mumbai jail. Has to be placed under house arrest due to his deteriorating health.
The furore over immunity granted to 11 convicts in the sensational case of Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and murdered seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, has reached the apex court, which has decided to examine the immunity and the consequential issue . Release of convicts.
The Karnataka hijab ban row saw a split verdict from the top court, with one judge dismissing an appeal challenging a High Court ruling that had refused to lift the ban and another saying there would be no ban . Now, the CJI will have to constitute a larger bench to decide the dispute conclusively.
The pleas related to hate speeches and forced conversions drew sharp remarks from the apex court, which said the former “completely poison” the very fabric of the nation, while the latter could pose a threat to national security and religious may encroach upon liberty.
In a major judgement, a bench headed by Justice Chandrachud expanded the scope of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and related rules to include unmarried women seeking abortion between 20-24 weeks of gestation, saying that only It is discriminatory to limit the provision to cover married women.
In a politically sensitive case related to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, it directed the premature release of six convicts, including Nalini Sriharan, noting that the Tamil Nadu government recommended immunity.
The 40-storey twin towers at Supertech’s Emerald Court project in Noida were demolished in the country due to the apex court’s order to crack down on errant builders, which were declared illegal.
Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who has been in the United Kingdom since March 2016 and facing extradition, was at the receiving end of the wrath of the apex court, which slapped him with four fines for contempt of court besides ordering attachment of his various properties. He was sentenced to a month’s jail.
The long arm of the law caught cricketer-turned-Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu after the apex court sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment in a 1988 road rage case.
In another significant judgement, the top court said that daughters of a male Hindu, who dies intestate, will inherit self-acquired and inherited properties received by the father in partition and have priority over other collateral descendants of the family. Will do
The apex court set aside the bail granted to Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, saying that the victims were denied a “fair and effective trial” in the Allahabad High Court, which took a “short-sighted approach”. was adopted. Evidence.” After being denied bail by the Allahabad HC, Ashish Mishra recently moved the apex court, which granted temporary time to the sessions court to conclude the trial in the case of lynching of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in October 2021. directed to specify the schedule.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)