Context: The Supreme Court has criticized the government’s “sealed cover jurisprudence” in the courts. What is ‘Sealed Cover’ Jurisprudence? Sealed Cover Jurisprudence is a practice used by the Supreme Court and sometimes lower courts, of asking for or accepting information from government agencies in sealed envelopes that can only be accessed by judges. There is no …
Context: Supreme Court has shown disappointment to the Central government for the long delays in making appointments for the various tribunals in India and warned it of initiating contempt proceedings against it. In Sep 2021, SC has given 2 weeks’ time fill posts in tribunals. Vacancies in Tribunals: Various tribunals in India are suffering from a huge backlog …
Context: Whether the state can use ‘national security’ as a ground to limit judicial scrutiny. Related Cases: MediaOne TV channel case: The transmission of a Malayalam-language news channel, Mediaone TV, was barred by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry citing “security reasons”. The order to block the channel was issued because it had not been granted security clearance by the …
Concerns associated with high Pendency of cases in the Supreme Court Pendency of cases: As per the Vidhi Centre comprehensive tracker, there are 25 main cases pending before the five-judge constitution bench and five cases each pending before the seven-judge and nine-judge benches. Interdependent Cases: Related to these pending main cases, there are more than 500 connected …
Context: Former Chief Justice of India said that corruption has become an acceptable way of life in the Judiciary. Previous judgements against scandalisation of Judiciary: R. vs Almon case, 1765: The court observed that “whenever men’s allegiance to the law is fundamentally shaken, it is the most fatal and most dangerous obstruction of justice and …
Context: Parliamentary committee on external affairs has presented a report titled “India and international law” in the Lok Sabha. The report discusses how Indian courts have dealt with international law. What is Customary International Law (CIL)? CIL refers to international law norms derived from a custom. They are binding legal rules that have developed on global or …
Context: CJI remarked that national law universities are elitist and detached from social realities. Issues in Law Education: Students from National Law Universities are not joining the bar instead they opt for corporate jobs. Even among those who joined the bar, the trend was to practise at the levels of the Supreme Court of India …
Reforms needed in Law Education in India – UPSC GS2 Read More »
Context: Two Supreme Court judges have openly expressed the need to “Indianise” the legal system. Chief Justice of India N V Ramana: Indianisation of the country’s legal system is the need of the hour. Here, Indianisation means the need to adapt to the practical realities of our society and to localise our justice delivery system. For example, …
Context: A Supreme court bench has sent proposal for the establishment of a National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation (NJIC) to the law ministry. What are the issues with the Supreme Court’s approach? Supreme court entering into states and high court’s domain: While the Supreme Court is the apex judicial institution, the Constitution clearly vests the administration of district …
SC encroaching in District Judiciary matters – UPSC GS2 Read More »
Examples of Criticism of Judiciary: ADM Jabalpur case, 1976: The court held that the right to life and personal liberty of a citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution would remain suspended during the emergency. The judiciary was under so much criticism that they had to overrule the judgement. Shashi Tharoor speech in Parliament: He said that the judiciary …