#JudgmentReserved:  Justices AK Sikri, Ashok Bhushan agree to hear oral submissions after reserving judgment

This edition of Judgment Reserved deals with the cases heard by different Benches of the Supreme Court from February 5 to 23.

It is rare for a Bench to permit counsel to make further oral submissions, after arguments have been concluded, and judgment reserved. However, this happened in Court room 5 of the Supreme Court on February 23, when Senior Counsel, Kapil Sibal placed such a request before the Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, in the case of Bimal Gurung v Union of India.

The Bench had concluded its hearing and reserved its judgment in the case only the previous day, February 22. Sibal submitted that he “could not have made his submissions on merits insofar as certain aspects are concerned”, and therefore, he may be allowed to do so. PS Patwalia, Senior Counsel for the petitioner, opposed his request. The Bench, however, “in the interest of justice”, granted some time to Sibal to make his submissions on March 5.

The case is a  writ petition filed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader, Bimal Gurung, seeking an independent investigation, preferably by a Special Investigation Team, into the allegations against him. Gurung has alleged that the investigation by the State police is politically motivated. Patwalia had submitted that multiple FIRs against Gurung were all identical, and must be quashed. Gurung is presently in hiding, and enjoys protection from arrest, following the Supreme Court’s intervention staying coercive steps by the State police against him.

Pursuant to Sibal’s request, the Court will now hear him on March 5, i.e. the day on which the Supreme Court re-opens after Holi vacation.

Between February 5 and 23, different Benches reserved judgments in a total of 67 cases. Here is the list:

Judgments in 35 of these cases were delivered during this period itself.

Among the other highlights during this period, the Bench of the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava  Roy and Justice AM Khanwilkar took almost five months to deliver the verdict in the Cauvery dispute involving Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The Bench had reserved the judgment on September 20, 2017, but delivered the judgment only on February 16, 2018.

Justice Amitava Roy, who retires on March 1, had his last working day on February 23. According to Manupatra Analytics, Justice Roy, who was appointed Supreme Court judge on February 27, 2015, authored 56 judgments during his tenure in the Supreme Court. Because of his short tenure, he could not get an opportunity to be the presiding Judge.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd v Shashi Prabha Shukla, was the last judgment authored by Justice Roy. Delivered on behalf of Justice NV Ramana and himself on December 15 last year, Justice Roy held in this case that a public authority, in its dealings, has to be fair, objective, non-arbitrary, transparent and non-discriminatory. “The discretion vested in such an authority, which is a concomitant of its power is coupled with duty and can never be unregulated or unbridled.  Any decision or action contrary to these functional precepts would be at the pain of invalidation thereof”, he had held.

Justice Roy’s brief concurring judgment (along with Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose’s main judgment), running to five pages, in the Jayalalithaa disproportionate assets case, delivered on February 14 last year, would long be remembered as a guide to his judicial philosophy on corruption and public ethics.

The cases in which judgments were reserved by benches in which Justice Roy was part of, have all been disposed of, prior to his retirement. Although not prolific like some of his brother Judges, Justice Roy appears to have heard only a select few cases finally, considering his impending retirement, so as to avoid rehearing them by other benches, in case they could not be disposed of during his tenure. The Bench on Cauvery dispute, of which he was one of the three Judges, therefore, delivered the judgment well in time, a week ahead of his last working day.

Of the 70 and odd judgments delivered during this period, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre authored 11, while Justice Kurian Joseph authored 10 non- reportable and two reportable judgments. Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan authored six each.