Chief Justice BR Gavai to hear Waqf law, marital rape, right to religion cases
Justice BR Gavai took oath as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on Wednesday and became the first from the Buddhist community to hold the highest judicial office in the country. During the seven-month tenure that he is going to have as the Chief Justice, BR Gavai faces a huge backlog of social justice cases, including on the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act, among others.advertisementBefore taking oath, Chief Justice Gavai spoke to the media and reaffirmed his commitment to reducing pendency in the courts. India Today takes a look at the issues that the new Chief Justice of India would have to take up.HUGE PENDENCY: According to the data available on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) there are 81,768 cases pending before the Supreme Court. A total of 28,553 of these are less than one-year-old. However, there is a significant number of matters that have been pending for more than five or even 10 years.
CONSTITUTION BENCH MATTERS: There are 20 pending matters before five-judge benches, five matters before seven-judge benches, and three matters before nine-judge benches in the Supreme Court.These include the right to religion matters arising out of the Sabarimala temple dispute, a labour law matter before a nine-judge bench pending since 2001, an issue of data privacy on Whatsapp and the Delhi Government's dispute with the Centre over control of services, among others.WAQF AMENDMENT ACT: More than 120 petitions were filed before the Supreme Court after Parliament passed the Waqf Amendment Act on April 4. On April 17, a bench headed by the then CJI Sanjiv Khanna agreed to hear the issue of challenge to the Waf act. The bench asked the government to not touch certain provisions of the previous act and deferred the matter to be heard by a bench led by the new Chief Justice on May 15.advertisementKANCHA GACHIBOWLI FOREST LAND CASE: The Telangana government had announced it plans to auction some 400 acres of forested land adjacent to the University of Hyderabad (UoH) to build IT parks in February. This sparked widespread outrage and protests by Hyderabad University students, conservationists and others. The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice BR Gavai had intervened in the matter on April 17, issuing an immediate stay on the project, after being informed that bulldozers had been sent in to remove the trees in the "urban forest" area.This matter is now scheduled to be heard before the bench headed by Justice Gavai on May 15.POWER OF GOVERNORS TO HOLD BILLS: On April 8, a Supreme Court bench verdict restricted the power of the Governor of a State to "hold" bills passed by the legislature and imposed a timeline on the Governor and the President to take a decision on giving assent to the bills. A dispute over similar action by the Kerala Governor remains pending before the Supreme Court.MARITAL RAPE ISSUE: The issue of the criminalisation of 'marital rape' is an important legal question before the Top Court. Organisations and individuals fighting for the equal rights of women have challenged Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, which criminalise rape.advertisementThe case came to the Supreme Court in April 2022. The bench began hearing the case on October 17, 2024, but the bench headed by then Justice of India DY Chandrachud adjourned the matter as he was due to retire. The matter was not listed for hearing during the tenure of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna.DIGNITY OF JUDICIARY: Several issues have come up in the last few months which raised concerns about the dignity and role of the Judiciary. From the corruption allegations after the Justice Yashwant Varma case to statements being made by Government Ministers and even the Vice President questioning "overreach" by the Judiciary, Chief Justice Gavai will have to put the debate to rest.Tune InTrending Reel
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
38 minutes ago
- NDTV
Explained: The 1950 Act That Lets Assam Expel Foreigners Directly
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the state was actively considering using a long-forgotten law from 1950 to directly expel illegal migrants without going through the courts. The law in question, the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, empowers even a district commissioner to issue an order for the immediate removal of a person identified as an illegal immigrant. What Is The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950? The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, was enacted by the Parliament in the early years of independence to address a pressing crisis in Assam. During the years after the Partition in 1947, Assam witnessed a massive influx of immigrants from East Bengal, which later became East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. The migration was largely driven by communal violence, displacement and the open border. To tackle this issue, the IEAA was passed on 1 March 1950. It gave the Central Government the power to remove any person or group from Assam if their presence harmed public interest or affected the rights of Scheduled Tribes. The law also allowed the government to give these powers to local officers, such as district commissioners, so they could issue expulsion orders directly, without going through the courts. The law was applicable across India but tailored to Assam. Over time, the law was mostly ignored. When the Assam Movement started in 1979, led by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), people again raised strong concerns about illegal migration. This led to the Assam Accord in 1985, which decided that anyone who came into Assam after March 24, 1971, would be treated as a foreigner. This Act predates several key legislations that are currently used to deal with immigration issues in India, such as the Foreigners Act, 1946; Section 6A of the Citizenship Act; the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964; the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; and the Passport Act, 1967. In October 2024, the Supreme Court of India upheld Section 6A of the Citizenship Act and clearly said that the 1950 Act was still valid. A Constitution Bench of five judges pointed out that the law allowed even a district commissioner to order the removal of illegal immigrants. The court said this Act can work alongside the Citizenship Act and the Foreigners Act to detect and deport illegal migrants. What Himanta Sarma Said "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about [the law], and we weren't aware of it either," Mr Sarma said, as reported by The Times Of India. Now that this has come to attention, the government is seriously discussing it, he said. He added that the state had already begun preparations over the last few days to act on this provision. "This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner, we will not send them to a tribunal. We will straightaway push them back." He clarified that those who have already moved court will not be affected by this. Himanta Sarma said that the process of identifying foreigners, which had slowed down due to complications around the National Register of Citizens (NRC), will now be sped up by using the legal powers available under this old but still valid Act.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
FIR against BJP leader, kin of Ex-PM Chandrashekhar's son, for threatening Dalit scholar
A BJP leader closely associated with former prime minister Chandrashekhar's son Neeraj Shekhar has been booked for allegedly threatening a Dalit research scholar from Lucknow University, police said on Tuesday (June 10, 2025). According to police, the FIR was lodged late Monday (June 9, 2025) night at Ubhaon Police Station on the complaint of Deepak Kannaujia, a native of Turtipar village. Police said that in his complaint, Mr. Kannaujia, a scholar at the Lucknow University, alleged that BJP leader Alok Singh called him on May 21 and abused him and threatened to kill him. "Record this conversation if you want. I am not afraid of the administration or the law and order in Uttar Pradesh," Alok Singh said, according to the complaint. BJP's Bilthara Road area president Arun Kant Tiwari confirmed that Alok Singh is affiliated with the BJP and is a close relative of Neeraj Shekhar. Mr. Kannaujia alleged that Alok Singh had a longstanding political enmity with his family. He said his father, Kamlesh Kannaujia, died of a heart attack on October 31 last year due to the stress caused by repeated harassment. He said he was afraid Alok Singh might get his mother, who lives alone in the village, killed. Superintendent of Police Omveer Singh told PTI on Tuesday that an audio clip related to the incident had recently gone viral on social media. A preliminary inquiry was conducted by Rasra Circle Officer Alok Gupta, after which Alok Singh was booked under sections 352 (intentional insult) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS, and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
DK Shivakumar, Parameshwara may lose posts in likely Karnataka reshuffle: Sources
Top Congress leaders are expected to hold a high-level meeting to discuss a major shake-up in Karnataka, according to sources. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, along with senior leaders Randeep Surjewala and KC Venugopal, is likely to be part of the to information exclusively accessed by India Today, Rahul Gandhi is reportedly upset over the recent developments in Bengaluru and is pushing for sweeping changes within the Karnataka Congress unit. advertisementIn what could mark the most significant shift within the Karnataka government, changes to the portfolios of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Home Minister G Parameshwara are under serious consideration, according to sources. A cabinet reshuffle is also imminent, with senior leaders BK Hariprasad and RV Deshpande likely to be inducted. Further changes are expected in the Chief Minister's Office, particularly following the recent exit of Siddaramaiah's political secretary K Govindraj. More exits are likely in the coming days, sources to sources, the leadership is actively discussing a change in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President. The post is currently held by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. Meanwhile, the party is expected to put the caste census, officially known as the Socio-Economic Survey, on hold for comes after at least 11 people died and several others were injured in a stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 4, during an event held to felicitate the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team following their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title win. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after chairing a Cabinet meeting on June 5, a day after the stampede, announced the immediate suspension of several police officials, including Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda, the stadium in-charge, the ACP, the central DCP, the Cubbon Park police station in-charge, and the police Chief Minister's decision has drawn criticism from former officers, political parties, citizens, and online communities, many of whom have rallied behind suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda in opposition to the order. IN THIS STORY#Karnataka
