Seven Important SC Decisions, Hearings During Justice U.U. Lalit’s Tenure as CJI The Wire
09, Nov 2022
Despite his stint as CJI being only 74 days long, the Supreme Court heard several important cases during Justice Lalit’s tenure.
Justice U.U. Lalit. Photo: DD Screengrab
New Delhi: Justice U.U. Lalit, who retired as Chief Justice of India on (CJI) on Monday (November 7), had a very short stint as CJI – only 74 days. He had taken office on August 27.
Even in that short period, though, Justice Lalit managed to hear several important cases. Here are the highlights of his brief tenure.
- EWS quota
On his last day in office, Justice Lalit was part of the five-judge bench ruling on the constitutional validity of 10% reservations for economically weaker sections from among the upper castes in government jobs and educational institutions.
While the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional amendment in a 3:2 decision, Justice Lalit was signatory to the dissenting opinion authored by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat. This dissenting opinion stated that the EWS quota, as it stands, violates the basic structure of the constitution by being exclusionary.
2. Live streaming of court hearings
On September 20, the Supreme Court under Justice Lalit announced that all constitution bench cases will be live streamed for the public to view. While the decision that live streaming should be allowed was made by a bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Mishra in 2018, it was put into practice only now.
3. Bail to Teesta Setalvad
On September 2, a bench headed by Justice Lalit granted interim bail to rights activist Teesta Setalvad, who was arrested by the Gujarat Police for an alleged conspiracy to send innocent persons to jail by misleading the investigation into the 2002 Gujarat riots case.
“It is a matter of record that the appellant was remanded to police custody for about seven days and was interrogated every day by the concerned investigating machinery,” Justice Lalit said while granting bail.
4. Bail to Siddique Kappan
On September 9, a bench headed by Justice Lalit granted bail to journalist Siddique Kappan in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case. Kappan had been arrested in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras, to cover the rape and murder of a Dalit teenager.
“Every person has the right to free expression. He is trying to show that victim needs justice and raise a common voice. Is that a crime in eyes of law?” Justice Lalit said while granting bail. He also asked the Uttar Pradesh police several pointed questions on the claim that Kappan was part of a ‘conspiracy’.
Kappan remains in jail as he has not received bail in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
5. Petitions challenging CAA
As many as 232 petitions challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) have been pending before the Supreme Court since the contentious law was passed in late 2019. A bench headed by Justice Lalit listed the case for hearing on December 6, 2022 and gave all the parties involved, including the petitioners, Union government and Assam government, five weeks to complete the paperwork.
Ahead of the hearing scheduled by Justice Lalit, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court referring to the CAA as a “benign piece of legislation”.
6. Demonetisation
Another long-pending case that the Supreme Court took up for hearing during Justice Lalit’s brief tenure was the challenge to the Narendra Modi government’s overnight November 8, 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. While Justice Lalit did not hear the case himself, it was listed and heard by the apex court.
The court on October 12 asked the Union government and Reserve Bank of India whether it had achieved the outcomes it desired from the demonetisation move. Fifty-eight petitions challenging the demonetisation exercise are being heard by the court.
7. Suspension of Bombay high court order on G.N. Saibaba
One decision by the Supreme Court during Justice Lalit’s tenure that has come under scrutiny from rights activists and court observers is the suspension of the Bombay high court judgment discharging G.N. Saibaba and others in a Maoist links case. The Supreme Court’s decision, taken by Justices M.R. Shah and Bela M. Trivedi, meant that Saibaba and the other accused were not released from jail.
The case was listed urgently for hearing on a non-working day in front of a special bench.
The original piece may be read here
