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The Supreme Court in 2025: Deference, technicality and the retreat from rights
From citizenship and reservation to encounter accountability, privacy, environmental protection and minority rights, the Court's most contentious judgments of 2025 reveal an increasing preference for institutional deference and procedural compliance over substantive constitutional justice
CJP Team -
Supreme Court grants six-week interim medical bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Mahesh Raut
Raut, in jail since 2018 under UAPA, secures interim relief for rheumatoid arthritis treatment; despite being granted regular bail by Bombay High Court in 2023, he remains in custody as the order has been under Supreme Court stay for two years
Supreme Court seeks states’ replies on pleas for stay of anti-conversion laws, to decide on interim stay after six weeks
CJP Team -
CJP highlights UP’s 20-year minimum sentence and PMLA-style bail conditions, warn of “weaponisation” of laws against minorities and interfaith couples; Court directs nine States to respond within four weeks
Waqf Act Amendments Partly Stayed: SC blocks government control, backs registration and reforms
CJI Gavai-led bench intervenes narrowly—suspends five-year Islam clause and executive powers over land disputes through interim order, while letting registration mandate and abolition of ‘Waqf by user’ operate
Abdul Wahid Shaikh, acquitted in 7/11 Mumbai train blast case, demands ₹9 crore as Compensation for Wrongful Incarceration
"The stigma of being falsely branded a ‘terrorist’ continues to haunt me even after acquittal"
Monitoring Torture: SC’s suo motu action on custodial deaths and CCTV camera non-compliance
CJP Team -
The Court’s suo motu action highlights how weak compliance with its 2020 CCTV directions has left detainees vulnerable and accountability elusive.
How Courts Prise Open Small Spaces for Liberty: Union of India v. Saleem Khan
CJP Team -
By distinguishing “association” from proscribed membership, the Court reaffirmed that the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial overrides Section 43D (5)
Akola 2023 targeted violence: Police officers must shed communal colours when they put on their uniforms says Supreme Court
The Hindu, New Indian Express and Indian Express all reported that the top court on Thursday, September 11, directed action against police who ignored a teenage Muslim assault victim and eyewitness to murder during the 2023 Akola communal riots; the SC ordered a probe by SIT comprising Muslim and Hindu officers
Reaffirming Open Justice: The Supreme Court on speech and contempt
In the case of Wikimedia v. ANI Media Private Limited & Ors. the apex court reaffirmed free speech and restrained a Delhi High Court order that was held, on examination to be disproportionate
Election Commission seriously risks losing all credibility: senior advocate Sanjay Hegde
Senior advocate, Supreme Court Sanjay Hegde on Saturday, September 6, raised concerns over the credibility of the Election Commission of India, cautioning that the institution is increasingly being viewed as partisan, speaking at the annual public lecture on the occasion of Gauri Lankesh’s brutal assassination
Supreme Court issues notice on plea for time-bound reverification of Assam NRC over “large-scale errors”
Retired IAS officer Hitesh Dev Sarma, former State NRC Coordinator, urges SC to order comprehensive review of draft and supplementary NRC citing wrongful inclusions, exclusions, financial irregularities, and threats to national security
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