Supreme Court

SC to hear suo motu case on NCERT book chapter on judiciary on Thursday

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a suo motu case over the "objectionable" statements about the judiciary in NCERT textbooks. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi will hear the case titled 'In Re: Social Science Textbook For Grade-8 (part-2) Published by NCERT and Ancillary Issues'. This assumes significance as the CJI on Wednesday strongly objected to a chapter on judicial corruption in NCERT's Class 8 curriculum, saying that nobody on earth will be allowed to defame the judiciary and taint its integrity. After facing the apex court's ire, the NCERT pulled the Class 8 textbook from its website with sources saying the government has not taken kindly to the inclusion of the controversial topic in the book. Earlier in the day, the top court took cognizance of the "objectionable" statements about judiciary in NCERT textbooks after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, alongside Abhishek Singhvi, mentioned the matter for urgent ...

SC resumes final hearing on pleas related to retrospective EC to projects

The Supreme Court on Wednesday resumed hearing on a batch of pleas relating to grant of retrospective environmental clearance (EC) by the Centre and other authorities to projects found violating environmental norms on payment of heavy penalties. On November 18 last year, a three-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai reversed by a majority of 2:1 its own verdict by an interim order and paved the way for retrospective environmental clearance to projects found violating environmental norms, saying that otherwise "thousands of crores of rupees would go in waste". The top court had held that numerous vital public projects constructed with nearly Rs 20,000 of the public exchequer money would be demolished if the May 16, 2025, verdict, which barred the Centre from granting retrospective environmental clearance to projects, was not recalled. It had ordered a fresh hearing on the pleas. A three-judge bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagch

NCERT may remove controversial portion on judiciary from class 8 textbook

The controversial portions about judicial corruption in NCERT's class 8 textbook could be removed as the government has not taken kindly to the matter, sources said on Wednesday, while the council pulled the book from its website. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi has taken suo motu cognisance of the "objectionable" statements about the judiciary in NCERT textbooks after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, alongside Abhishek Singhvi, mentioned the matter for urgent consideration. Separately, CJI Kant strongly objected to a chapter on judicial corruption in the NCERT's Class 8 curriculum, saying nobody on earth will be allowed to defame the judiciary and taint its integrity. The National Council of Educational Research and Training's (NCERT's) new social science textbooks for Class 8 say corruption, a massive backlog of cases, and the lack of an adequate number of judges are among the challenges faced by the ..

SC takes cognisance of Class 8 NCERT text on corruption in judiciary

The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the contents of Class 8 NCERT textbook referring to the corruption in the judiciary and termed it a matter of "grave concern." A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was urged by senior advocate Kapil Sibal that "children of class 8 are taught about corruption in the judiciary. This is a matter of grave concern." The CJI said, "I will not allow anybody to defame the institution. Law will take its course." He added, "As head of the institution, I have done my duty and have taken cognisance This seems to be a calculated move. I won't say much." Justice Bagchi said the book seemed to be against the basic structure of the Constitution. The CJI said, "Please wait for a few days. Bar and Bench all are perturbed. All high court judges are perturbed. I will take up the matter suo motu. I will not allow anybody to defame the institution. Law will take its course." Later, Just

Bengal SIR: SC allows Jharkhand, Odisha judicial officers for verification

SC permits deployment of additional judges to speed up Bengal's voter roll revision and allows the Election Commission to publish the final rolls on February 28 as verification continues

Will comply with NCLAT order on data sharing: WhatsApp to Supreme Court

Global tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp told the Supreme Court on Monday that they will comply with the NCLAT's directions for extending the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) privacy and consent guidelines to advertising-related data. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing appeals filed by the tech giants against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) directions of December last year. The court is also seized of a cross-appeal filed by the CCI, assailing the NCLAT ruling to the extent that it allowed WhatsApp and Meta to continue sharing users' data for advertising purposes. "These applications essentially seek a direction for a stay of the impugned judgment of the NCLAT to the extent it approves the direction issued by the CCI directing Meta to comply with the impugned directions contained in the NCLAT order dated December 15, 2025, containing certain directions issued to Meta," the CJI ...

SC to examine if NEET-PG cut-off reduction affects quality of education

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would examine whether the sharp reduction in the qualifying marks for NEET-PG 2025-26 affects the standard of postgraduate medical education. A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe made the remarks while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the reduction in the percentile cut-off for the current academic year. "Adversely affecting the quality of education is what we are concerned about more than anything. It is about the quality. You will have to satisfy us that the reduction of the cutoff so drastically...will have little impact on the quality of education. Though you are justified in saying that this is not like entry into MBBS, this is like a post-graduation. It stands on a different footing because those who apply are already doctors. We will have to reflect on this issue," the top court said. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, referred to the reasoning set out in the government's ...

Air pollution: SC seeks Centre's reply on shifting coal units from NCR

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses of the union ministries on a proposal for shifting all coal-based industries out of Delhi-NCR to ensure better air quality. In a bid to deal with the persistent air quality crisis in the National Capital Region (NCR), a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi Vipul M Pancholi said it will examine the issue of vehicular air pollution on March 12 based on the suggestions made by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). It also sought responses of all the stakeholders on the measures suggested by the CAQM to deal with dust due to construction and demolition activities. The top court sought responses of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), MoPNG (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas) and the Ministry of Power on the suggestions that no new coal-based thermal power plant be set up within 300 km of Delhi. The court directed Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan to issue publ

SC adjourns hearing on plea against Sonam Wangchuk's detention to Feb 26

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned to February 26 the hearing on a plea filed by Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, against the latter's detention under the National Security Act. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale deferred the matter as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was not available. Earlier, the top court had asked the Centre if there was any possibility for the government to relook at the detention of Wangchuk, considering his health condition. Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj had submitted that Wangchuk was responsible for violence in Leh on September 24 last year, in which four people died, and 161 were injured. The Centre and the Ladakh administration had told the apex court that Wangchuk was detained for instigating people in a border area where regional sensitivity was involved. Justifying Wangchuk's detention, Mehta had told the bench that all procedural safeguards were followed while ordering his detention under

Pre-2018 Nhai land cases can't be reopened for interest claims: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday orally observed that pre-2018 land acquisition cases cannot be reopened for the grant of compensation with interest to the farmers whose land had been acquired under the NHAI Act. The observation was made by a special bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan while commencing the hearing in an open court of a plea of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), seeking a review of a 2019 verdict of the top court. The apex court, in 2019, held that the decision to grant compensation with interest to farmers whose land was acquired under the NHAI Act would apply retrospectively. The NHAI, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said the 2019 judgement imposed a huge financial burden (approximately Rs 32,000 crore) and should only apply prospectively. The bench had previously rejected this, noting that denying such benefits violated Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution. "What perhaps weighed with your lordsh

SC rejects plea against panel reviewing SIT report on Tirumala laddu row

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea of Subramanian Swamy challenging the Andhra Pradesh government's decision to appoint a one-member committee to review the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on the Tirumala laddu controversy. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi was hearing Swamy's plea, which also assailed statements made by the Andhra Pradesh chief minister on the row. CJI Kant said, "Such an administrative enquiry cannot be called as overlapping with the criminal proceedings which led to the chargesheet and supplementary chargesheet." "There is no conflict of interest/overlapping, and the scope of the investigation/enquiry, having been well demarcated, shows that apprehension of the petitioner does not have a solid foundation. Let both processes continue strictly in accordance with the law," the court said. Swamy argued that the state government's move undermines the authority of the SIT, which was constituted earlier by the .

Apple ecosystem in India creates more than 250,000 new direct jobs

70% of workers women; indirect employment pegged at 750,000

SC to hear Meta-WhatsApp privacy policy case against CCI order on Monday

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday pleas of Meta and WhatsApp against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over their privacy policy. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi is likely to hear the matter. On February 3, the bench had made strong observations against Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp, saying they could not "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing" and alleged that they were creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of private information of customers. Decrying WhatsApp's privacy policy, the bench referred to "silent customers" who were unorganised, digitally dependent and unaware of the implications of data-sharing policies, and asserted, "We will not allow the rights of any citizen of this country to be damaged." WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms Inc. The top court was hearing the appeals of the t

SC remands to Madhya Pradesh HC pleas concerning OBC reservation in state

The Supreme Court has remanded a batch of pleas concerning the validity of the enhancement in OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh from 14 per cent to 27 per cent to the state high court. In 2019, the state decided to increase the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota in Madhya Pradesh from 14 per cent to 27 per cent in government jobs and education. While asking the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to constitute a special bench for hearing these matters, the top court said the pleas be decided within three months. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the order on February 19 while hearing a batch of pleas on the issue. "We are of the opinion that the High Court of Madhya Pradesh will be in the best position to consider, take a holistic view of the need as well as the legality of the affirmative action for the state," the bench said. It said that while affirmative action and reservations are the constitutional obligations and prerogatives of state polic

Law must shift from 'fortress to forum' for wider access: CJI Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday said that "law cannot remain a fortress erected to protect society from arbitrariness", and called on the young lawyers to make it a "forum" where differences are debated, rights articulated and power is reasoned with. Kant, during his address -- "From Fortress to Forum: Law in an Unfinished Republic" -- at the 18th Convocation of National Law University here, urged the professionals to see law not as a closed citadel but as a living, evolving public space. The CJI invoked the Mehrangarh Fort as a powerful metaphor for the historical journey of law. "A fortress is built to defend, to guard against disorder and uncertainty. In its earliest conception, law resembled such a structure, erected to protect society from arbitrariness and chaos," he said. "But in a constitutional democracy, he said, law cannot remain a fortress alone. It must transform into a forum where differences are debated, rights articulated and power reasoned with," he .

SC flags uneven compliance in solid waste management, issues directions

Flagging the "uneven" compliance with the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules across India, the Supreme Court has said the present generation cannot afford to wait for further legislative refinement while existing implementation gaps persist. Observing that the right to a clean and healthy environment is an "inseparable part" of the right to life, the court issued a slew of pan-India directions to ensure that the executive has the requisite mechanism required to enforce the SWM Rules, 2026, which will be effective from April 1. A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and S V N Bhatti said neglecting municipal solid waste will affect health as much as the economy and India must be fully-compliant with the 2026 Rules when the world looks at the country in technology-related activities. "Compliance of MSW/SWM Rules meant to govern waste management remains uneven across India. While mandated at source, the segregation at source into wet, dry and hazardous streams is still not fully realised in

Calcutta High Court holds high-level meet on SIR after SC directive

A high-level meeting on the SIR exercise began at the Calcutta High Court on Saturday afternoon, in accordance with the SC's directives, officials said. The meeting, presided over by HC Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, aims to establish a framework for judicial oversight as mandated by the apex court, they said. The meeting follows the Supreme Court's direction that the remaining stages of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls must now be conducted under the supervision of judicial officers and former judges. Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal were among the officers attending the meeting. The CEO said the meeting would allow all stakeholders to present their "points of view" to resolve existing complexities and receive specific directions on the way forward. Dismayed over the ongoing tussle between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission, the Supreme Court on Friday issued an "extraordinary" direction to .

Expanding green cover key to improving Delhi-NCR air quality: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed that expanding green cover is a sustainable, long-term measure to improve Delhi-NCR's air quality as it reconstituted an expert panel for afforestation efforts

Trump tariffs struck down: A timeline of how the trade upheaval unfolded

President Trump last year invoked emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs on imports; A year later, the Supreme Court ruled he exceeded his authority, ending an aggressive tariff regime

India must review US trade deal after SC tariff ruling, says GTRI

GTRI says the US Supreme Court's decision striking down Trump's global tariffs frees most Indian exports from reciprocal duties, prompting a reassessment of the new bilateral trade deal