The Week That Was: The Supreme Court of India

The Apex Court sat for only three days this past week. But it made up for lost time and how! With multiple judgments being delivered in the final working week of the Court, the last few days have proved to be some of the busiest in the entire year..Read the highlights below..Wednesday, December 14.National policy for drug abuse in children.The Centre has been given six months to complete a national survey, and generate a database about the abuse by children. The apex court observed that,.“Protecting children from wide-spread prevalence of substance abuse is one of the biggest policy challenges facing India”..A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur also directed the Union Government to formulate a comprehensive National Action Plan within four months to curb drug abuse amongst children..[Download judgment].Fighting racial discrimination against people from the North East.The judgment in a PIL filed by lawyer Karma Dorjee following the murder of a 19-year old, had much to say on racial discrimination..A Bench of CJI TS Thakur and Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao asked the government to formulate a committee for regular exercise of monitoring and redressal of the issues in this regard. It also directed the Centre to take steps to protect people from the North East who are subjected to racial attacks in the country, noting that,.“Mind-sets have to be changed including in the universities, colleges and educational institutions, places of work and in society. Sensitivity and inclusion have to be fostered.”.The court also directed the government to implement the effective monitoring mechanism suggested by the MP Bezbaruah Committee..[Download judgment].Matters of security are not issues of prestige.The Supreme Court has held that High Court judges shall continue to be frisked at airports in accordance with the central government’s procedure, effectively scrapping a decade old judgment that had been delivered by the Rajasthan High Court..The Bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao have also cautioned against equating matters of security with ‘status’ or ‘prestige’..Read the full story here..Use of pellet guns: Expert Committee Report sought .The Central government has been asked to submit the report prepared by an Expert Committee regarding the use of pellet guns by Armed Forces. In a petition filed by Jammu & Kashmir High Court Advocates Association, a Bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice DY Chandrachud asked the Centre to file the report prepared by the Expert Committee constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs..Read the full story here..Thursday, December 15.Liquor shops along highways to be banned.A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur, and comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao has ruled that the existing licenses of liquor shops across the highways will not be renewed after 31 March, 2017. The bench also directed that no liquor shops should be allowed at least within a radius of 500 metres from state and national highways..Read the full story here..More trouble for ex-Supreme Court judge, Markandey Katju.The Supreme Court dismissed a plea by Justice Markandey Katju challenging a resolution passed by Parliament deploring his remarks against Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The Parliament had chastised Justice Katju for calling Gandhi a “British agent”, and Bose a “Japanese agent”..A bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit dismissed the former apex court judge’s plea, although they did observe that the petition was maintainable..Supreme Court draws the line at beard rules for Air Force personnel.In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that barring Air Force personnel from sporting long beard did not interfere with freedom of religion and upheld the sacking of an Air Force man for keeping beard. The court said that the regulations of the armed forces are aimed at ensuring discipline and uniformity..The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur quashed the petition of Ansari Aftab Ahmed, who was discharged from service in 2008. Rejecting his plea, the bench maintained that the dress code was not discriminatory..Read the full story here..Friday, December 16.No sovereignty for J&K outside the Constitution.A judgment of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court which spoke about the “absolute sovereign power” of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, came under severe criticism..A Bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman while deciding the applicability of the SARFAESI Act in Jammu & Kashmir, has not held back. The apex court stated that parts of the High Court judgment are “rather disturbing”. It has also observed that the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir itself makes it clear that Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India..Read the full story here..Prashant Bhushan antagonises Bench by seeking Justice J S Khehar’s recusal.The hearing in the Sahara Birla raids case proved extremely eventful yet again as Prashant Bhushan raised a line of argument that resulted in a tirade from both, the Bench and Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi..Bhushan raised an objection which did not go down too well: Justice Khehar’s file for elevation as the Chief Justice of India was pending with the Central government..Read the full story here.