SC to take up 25 Constitution Bench matters from August 29
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, August 24
As around 500 Constitution Bench matters hang fire, the Supreme Court on Wednesday notified that 25 five-judge Constitution Bench cases will be listed from August 29, two days after Justice UU Lalit is scheduled to take over as the 49th Chief Justice of India.
According to a notice issued by the top court, these five-judge Constitution Benches matters will be listed for directions, including filing of common compilation, short written submissions and tentative indication as to time to be taken by lawyers for making their submissions and thereafter, the cases would be listed as per directions of the court.
According to a recent research by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a total of 492 cases are pending before Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court. There are 41 main and 301 connected matters pending before five-judge Benches. So far as seven-judge benches are concerned, there are seven main and eight connected matters. Similarly, there are five main and 130 connected matters pending before nine-judge Benches.
The Constitution Bench matters notified for hearing included: the extent of immunity enjoyed by lawmakers under Articles 105 and 194 of the Constitution; minority status of Sikhs in Punjab; WhatsApp’s privacy policy and its users’ right to privacy; does India need exclusive Courts of Appeal above high courts and below the Supreme Court; constitutionality of EWS quota; religion-based reservation in for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh; Islamic practices of polygamy, Nikah Halala, Nikah Mutah, and Nikah Misyar; manner in which Governor’s power of remission is exercised; the top court’s power under Article 142 to dissolve a marriage between consenting parties; system for appointing Election Commission members and validity of Section 6A(1) of the DPSE Act which provides immunity for officers of the level of Joint Secretary and above.
However, the petitions challenging Presidential Orders nullifying Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories which were referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench by the top court on August 28, 2019 don’t figure in the list of 25 cases notified on Wednesday.
