Supreme Selections: Yearly Digest 2024, PART-I

27 November, 2024

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Part-I: January And February

January

In January, the Supreme Court (SC) of India pronounced 75 Judgments including approximately 53 Reportable Judgments. Apart from these judgments, the top Court passed various orders that dictated the next hearing date, bail, and related orders. Below are the verdicts passed by the Supreme Court in January 2024.

Summoning of Government Officials

Judgment Name: The State of Uttar Pradesh vs. Association of Retired Supreme Court and High Court Judges at Allahabad (January 03, 2024)

Bench: Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra

Brief: The bench answered the question, “Whether the High Court (HC) had the power to direct the State Government to notify Rules proposed by the Chief Justice pertaining to post-retiral benefits for former Judges of the High Court?” It said that the HC cannot usurp the functions of the executive and compel the executive to exercise its rule-making power in the manner directed by it. The bench added that such directions by the HC are impermissible and contrary to the separation of powers envisaged by the Constitution. Moreover, the SC bench issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to HCs on the ‘arbitrary and frequent’ summoning of government officials.

2002 Gujarat Riots Case

Judgment Name: Bilkis Yakub Rasool vs. Union of India & Others (January 08, 2024)

Bench: Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Brief: The SC set aside the remission granted to 11 convicts, guilty of committing the heinous crimes of murder and rape during the Gujarat riots, by the Gujarat Government. It ordered them to report to the concerned jail authorities within 2 weeks from January 08, 2024.

Dishonor of Cheque under Section 138 NI Act

Judgment Name: Ajitsinh Chehuji Rathod vs. The State of Gujarat (January 29, 2024)

Bench: Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta

Brief: The bench was hearing an appeal against the Gujarat High Court order that refused to accept additional evidence under Section 391 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in an appeal, by the complainant, against his conviction in a cheque dishonor case. The bench ruled that a “Certified copy of a document issued by a Bank is itself admissible under the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 without any formal proof thereof. Hence, in an appropriate case, the certified copy of the specimen signature maintained by the Bank can be procured with a request to the Court to compare the same with the signature appearing on the cheque by exercising powers under Section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.”

The Top Court passed various judgments, to read the Judgments with Headnotes click on the links below.

Other Important Judgments of January Month

February

The SC pronounced 73 Judgments including approximately 51 Reportable Judgments in February 2024, listed below.

Constitutionality of the Electoral Bond Scheme

Judgment Name: Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors. (February 15, 2024)

Bench: Former CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Manoj Misra, and current CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Brief: The SC bench struck down the electoral bond scheme, that facilitates anonymous donations to political parties, stating it to be violative of Article 19(1)(a) and unconstitutional. It also issued certain directions regarding the same.

Chandigarh Mayoral Elections

Judgment Name: Kuldeep Kumar vs. U.T. Chandigarh and Others (February 20, 2024)

Bench: Former CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra

Brief: The SC set aside the Chandigarh Mayor election results dated January 30, 2024, and declared Mr. Kuldeep Kumar Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance as the rightful winner. It said, “Allowing the entire election process to be set aside would further compound the destruction of fundamental democratic principles which has taken place as a consequence of the conduct of the Presiding Officer.”