On July 3, the Supreme Court will reopen After Summer Break, Key Cases Await
02-07-2023 : The Supreme Court will complete its 42-day summer holiday on July 3 when normal sessions will resume. When the court meets again, it will discuss a number of vital issues that are very important to the country.
A group of petitions pertaining to the unrest in Manipur is one of the significant cases on the docket. The court will also take into account a petition from the sister of the late gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf, who asks that a committee be established to look into their “extrajudicial deaths.”
During the summer break, several vacation benches were operational and dealt with more than 2,000 cases, including the bail plea of social activist Teesta Setalvad. Over 700 cases were successfully disposed of during this period.
Notably, the court held a special late-night hearing during the holidays, an unusual occurrence, where a three-judge bench, led by Justice Gavai, granted protection to Teesta Setalvad from arrest. They also stayed a Gujarat High Court order that rejected her plea for regular bail in a case related to the alleged fabrication of evidence during the 2002 post-Godhra riot cases.
The summer break also saw three senior judges, Justice KM Joseph, Justice Ajay Rastogi, and Justice V Ramasubramanian, retire on June 16, June 17, and June 29, respectively, leading to a reduction in the court’s strength to 31 judges. The sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court stands at 34 judges.
With the retirement of Justices Joseph and Rastogi, the composition of the five-member collegium, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, has changed, and two senior judges, Justice BR Gavai and Surya Kant, have been included in it. Another senior judge, Justice Krishna Murari, is set to retire on July 8.
The priority for the revamped collegium will be to fill up the vacancies created due to the retirement of judges.
On the first day of resuming work, the bench led by CJI Chandrachud will hear cases related to the Manipur violence, including a petition from an NGO seeking Army protection for the minority Kuki tribals and prosecution of communal groups attacking them. The court will also hear a PIL seeking guidelines to address suicides by married men subjected to domestic violence and the establishment of a ‘National Commission for Men’ to protect their interests.
The court has also released a fresh roster for the allocation of new cases to 15 benches effective from July 3. The first three courts, presided over by the CJI and the two senior-most judges, will hear Public Interest Litigations (PILs). The court has also introduced a new procedure for the CJI to consider cases for urgent listing and hearing from July 3.
In the upcoming days, the court is expected to deliver its verdict on a batch of pleas concerning same-sex marriage, and it has already reserved the order after ten days of extensive hearings in May.
The CJI will preside over a new five-judge Constitution bench that will convene on July 12 to hear four issues, one of which questions the legality of changing eligibility requirements for public employment after the selection process has started.
In addition to these cases, other significant issues that have been on the court’s agenda for some time will be discussed during the upcoming sessions, including the validity of the electoral bonds scheme, the repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution, and the challenge to the remission granted to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano cases.
