Constitution Bench Tracker: January - June 2024

The first half of 2024 saw the Supreme Court of India making much headway not only in clearing its five-judge Constitution Bench cases, but also in tackling long-pending seven-judge and nine-judge Constitution Bench cases..The apex court has made quick work of clearing its backlog, with some cases dating as far back as 1999. With verdicts reserved in six cases, important judgments can be expected once the Court reopens after its summer vacation..Judgments were delivered in the following cases:High Court Bar Association Allahabad v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors - Automatic vacation of interim stay ordersAssociation for Democratic Reforms & Anr v. Union of India Cabinet Secretary & Ors - Electoral bonds schemeSita Soren v. Union of India - MPs and MLAs immunity from prosecution for bribery.Verdicts were reserved or remain reserved in the following cases:Tej Prakash Pathak v. Rajasthan High Court - Selection and appointment in public service postsAssam Sanmilita Mahasangha v. Union of India - Citizenship ActMineral Area Development Authority v. M/S Steel Authority Of India - Royalty paid for extraction of mineralsState Of Punjab & Ors v. Davinder Singh & Ors. - Sub-classification within SC/ST categoriesAligarh Muslim University Through its Registrar Faizan Mustafa v. Naresh Agarwal & Ors - Minority status of education institutionsProperty Owners Association v. State of Maharashtra - Material resources of the community.The following cases were referred to Constitution Benches:Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft Technologies Limited - Modification of arbitral awards under Sections 34 and 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 State of Kerala v. Union of India - Alleged interference by the Central government with the State's power to borrow and regulate its own finances.Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Abhay S Oka, JB Pardiwala, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra.1. Automatic vacation of interim stay ordersQuestion of law: Should interim stay orders granted by courts in civil and criminal cases operate only for six months unless specifically extended?Cause title: High Court Bar Association Allahabad v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.Status: Judgment delivered on February 29, 2024.The Court held that there cannot be automatic vacation of stay orders after six months, contrary to what a three-judge bench laid down in the 2018 judgment in Asian Resurfacing Of Road Agency v. Central Bureau Of Investigation.The Court said that no litigant should be allowed to suffer due to the court's fault, which is duty-bound to rectify its mistakes including the directions in Asian Resurfacing that virtually amounted to judicial legislation..Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.1. Electoral BondsQuestion of Law: Is the Electoral Bonds scheme, which allows anonymous donations to political parties, legally valid?Cause Title: Association for Democratic Reforms & Anr. v. Union of India Cabinet Secretary & Ors.Registered: September 14, 2017 | Admitted: November 1, 2023Status: Judgment delivered on February 15, 2024.The Bench unanimously quashed the Electoral Bonds scheme as well as amendments made to the Income Tax Act and the Representation of the People Act which had made donations to political parties anonymous as being unconstitutional. .Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, PS Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra.1. Changing rules of the game during selection processQuestion of Law: Can the criteria for appointment to a post be altered by the authorities concerned in the middle or after the process of selection has started?Cause title: Tej Prakash Pathak v. Rajasthan High CourtRegistered: November 4, 2020 | Admitted: March 22, 2023 | Last listed: July 18, 2023.Status: Verdict reserved..2. Appointment of arbitratorsQuestions of Law: Can courts deviate from the agreed procedure of appointing arbitrators on an application under Section 11 of the Arbitration Act?Are retired employees rendered ineligible to act as the arbitrators in cases involving their former employers?Cause Title: Central Organisation for Railway Electrification v. M/s ECI SPIC SMO MCML (JV) A Joint Venture CompanyRegistered: December 17, 2019 | Admitted: August 24, 2021 | Last listed: September 13, 2023Status: Pending..3. Scope of "light motor vehicle" driving licenceQuestion of Law: Is a person with a driving licence for “light motor vehicles” entitled to drive a “transport vehicle of light motor vehicle class” having unladen weight not exceeding 7500 kg?Cause Title: M/s Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Co Ltd v. Rambha Devi & Ors.Registered: January 16, 2018 | Admitted: January 16, 2018| Last listed: November 22, 2023Status: Pending.The Court set January 17 as the deadline for the Central government to review the policy that allows persons holding driving licences for light motor vehicles to drive transport vehicles weighing upto 7,500 kg..4. Appointment of arbitratorsQuestion of Law: Can a person who is himself ineligible to be an arbitrator appoint an arbitrator?Cause Title: JSW Steel Limited v. South Western Railway & AnrRegistered: May 16, 2022 | Admitted: July 12, 2023 | Last listed: September 13, 2023.Status: Pending..Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices AS Bopanna, MM Sundresh, JB Pardiwala and Manoj MisraNote: This Bench will have to re-constituted after the recent retirement of Justice Bopanna..1. Citizenship ActQuestion of Law: Challenge to Section 3(1)(a) of Citizenship Act, 1955 and 6A of Citizenship Act, 1985 that provided a framework for regularising or expelling migrants, based on their date of migration.Cause title: Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha v. Union of IndiaRegistered: December 20, 2012 | Admitted: November 5, 2015| Last listed: December 12, 2023.Status: Verdict reserved..2. Extension of reservation for SC/ST, Anglo-Indians in Lok SabhaQuestion of Law: Does the extension of reservation for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Anglo-Indians (over the inititally planned 10 years) under the 79th Constitutional Amendment violate Article 14?Cause Titile: Ashok Kumar Jain v. Union of India & Ors.Registered: October 17, 2000 | Admitted: February 26, 2016 | Last listed: September 20, 2023.Status: Pending..Bench: CJI Chandrachud and Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma.1. Sub-classification within SC/ST categoriesQuestion of law: Was the judgment in EV Chinnaiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh, in which it was held that any ‘sub-classification’ of the Scheduled Castes would violate Article 14 of the Constitution, correct?Cause title: State Of Punjab & Ors. v. Davinder Singh & Ors.Registered: March 4, 2011 | Admitted: February 8, 2016 | Last Listed: February 8, 2024Status: Verdict reserved..Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices AS Bopanna, MM Sundresh, PS Narasimha, JB Pardiwala, PV Sanjay Kumar and Manoj Misra.1. MPs' and MLAs' immunity from prosecution for briberyQuestion of Law: Does the immunity conferred on Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) under Article 194(2) of the Constitution and to Members of Parliament (MPs) under Article 105(2) in respect of any vote given by them in the legislature include immunity against prosecution for bribery?Cause title: Sita Soren v. Union of IndiaRegistered: March 7, 2019 | Admitted: December 4, 2018 |Status: Judgment delivered on March 4, 2024.The Court, in a unanimous verdict, ruled that MLAs and MPs cannot claim any immunity from prosecution under Articles 105 and 194 of the Constitution when they are accused of taking bribes. The Court explained that immunity is given to legislators under Articles 105(2) and 194(2) in respect of anything said or done in Parliament or a legislative assembly only if a two-fold test is satisfied. The two-fold test involves examining whether such action is (1) connected to the collective functioning of the legislative house and (2) the action has a functional relationship "to the discharge of the essential duties of a legislator.".Bench: CJI Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, JB Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma.1. Minority status of Aligarh Muslim UniversityQuestion of law: What are the criteria for treating an institution as a minority institution?The reference to a seven-judge bench arose when it was argued that the effect of the 1967 Constitution Bench judgment in Azeez Basha was that no university can be granted minority status despite there being a fundamental right to establish minority institutions under Article 30.Cause title: Aligarh Muslim University Through its Registrar Faizan Mustafa v. Naresh Agarwal & Ors.Registered: April 24, 2006 | Admitted: January 11, 2016 | Last listed: February 1, 2024Status: Verdict reserved. .1. Surcharge on sales taxQuestion of law: Can additional surcharge be imposed on the total amount of payable sales tax?The seven-judge bench reference was made to determine whether the Explanation to Section 8 of the Orissa Sales Tax Act violates the constitutional principles of inter-state trade and commerce enshrined in Article 301 of the Constitution.Cause title: Arjun Flour Mills v. State of Orissa Registered: December 2, 1994 | Admitted: October 18, 2016| Last listed: January 9, 2024Status: Pending..2. Parliamentary privileges v. fundamental rightsQuestion of law: Can fundamental rights override parliamentary privileges?The case was referred to a seven-judge bench in 2004 in view of the conflict between two judgments. The 1958 MSM Sharma judgment stated that fundamental rights should prevail while the 1965 Keshav Singh verdict stated that fundamental rights were subservient to parliamentary privileges.Cause title: N Ravi & Ors v. Speaker, Legislative Assembly Chennai & Ors.Registered: November 10, 2003 | Admitted: December 9, 2004 | Last listed: October 12, 2023Status: Pending. .3. Passage of laws as money bills to circumvent Rajya SabhaQuestions of law: Can the Finance Act, 2017, which introduced certain amendments to the Finance Act, 1994, be considered a "money bill" under Article 110 of the Indian Constitution?Were the amendments made through the Finance Act, 2017 within the scope of a money bill and was the procedure followed in passing the Bill valid?Cause title: Rojer Mathew v. South Indian BankRegistered: November 13, 2019| Admitted: March 27, 2019 | Last listed: October 12, 2023Status: Pending. .4. Powers of Assembly Speaker (as laid down in Nabam Rebia)Question of law: Would the issuance of a notice of intention to move a resolution for the removal of a Speaker restrain the Speaker from adjudicating disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution?The matter was referred to a seven-judge bench in the Maharashtra politics judgment in May 2023.Cause title: Subhash Desai v Principal Secretary, Governor of MaharashtraRegistered: July 9, 2022 | Admitted: September 7, 2022| Last listed: October 12, 2023Status: Pending. .Bench: CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, BV Nagarathna, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma and Augustine George Masih.1. Royalty paid for extraction of mineralsQuestion of law: Does royalty paid by mining operators under the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957, constitute a "tax"?Cause title: Mineral Area Development Authority etc. v. M/S Steel Authority Of IndiaRegistered: July 26, 1999| Admitted: March 30, 2011 |Status: Verdict reserved..2. “Material resources of the community” under Article 39(b)Questions of law: Does private property come under 'material resources of the community' for acquisition purposes?Would a constitutional amendment, once struck down, revive the original or substituted Article?Cause title: Property Owners Association v. State of MaharashtraRegistered: February 6, 2002 | Admitted: August 17, 2016 | Last listed: May 2, 2024Status: Verdict reserved. .3. Levy of taxes/duties on denatured spiritsQuestion of law: How must Section 18G of the the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, which permits the Central government to ensure that certain products related to scheduled industries are distributed fairly, be interpreted?Cause title: State of UP v. Lalta Prasad VaishRegistered: January 8, 2007 | Admitted: July 19, 2016 | Last Listed: April 2, 2024Status: Pending..1. Definition of “industry” under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947Question of law: Are the contours of 'industry' as per Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (ID Act) different from sovereign functions of State?Cause title: State of UP v. Jai Bir SinghRegistered: January 30, 2002 | Admitted: October 18, 2010 | Last Listed: October 12, 2023Status: Pending.