Best of 2015; Read 25 Significant Judgments delivered by Supreme Court of India this year

As 2015 is going to end soon and we are about to see the dawn of 2016, it is the apt time to have a relook at what all we did this year. For humans living in legal world, viz. Lawyers, reporters and Law student, it is apt time to re look at what Supreme Court said this year. What new interpretation of law did the Apex Court offer and what Law has been struck down? We at LiveLaw, have reported almost all the important Judgments delivered by the Supreme Court this year and twenty five most important Judgments can be read here ;-1. NJAC held unconstitutional (Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association vs. Union of India)Within a year of both houses of Union Legislature passed much awaited National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, the Supreme Court struck down the NJAC Act by 4:1. Justices J S Khehar, MB Lokur, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel declared the 99th Amendment and NJAC Act unconstitutional while lone minority, Justice Chelameswar upheld it. The judgement rendered by five judges runs over 1000 pages. Read more about it here.2. Yakub Memon midnight hearing [Yakub Abdul Razak Memon vs. State of Maharashtra]The year 2015 witnessed a rare event of the Apex Court opening its gates for hearing an urgent Writ petition. Yakub Memon’s final plea before the Apex Court was heard in Court Room 4 which was opened for an unprecedented 90-minute hearing that started at 3.20 AM and ended a little before dawn. The Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice P.C. Pant agreed and observed that granting further time was not necessary in the present case. The bench said the execution was “inevitable” after rejection of the mercy petitions. Yakub was executed the very next day on his birthday.Read more about that eventful night at Supreme Court here.3. Section 66A IT Act struck down [Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India]Netizens also had a good year with Supreme Court striking down Section 66A of Information Technology which was viewed as ‘draconian’ by many. The Apex court bench comprising of Justices J. Chelameswar and R.F. Nariman held that Section 66A arbitrarily, excessively and disproportionately invades the right of free speech and upsets the balance between such right and the reasonable restrictions that may be imposed on such right.” You may Read more about it here. 4. No compromise in Rape cases [State of MP vs. Madanlal]After a couple of High Courts allowed mediation to take place between the Rape Victim and the Accused, the Supreme Court in a strong worded judgment held that in a case of rape or attempt of rape, the conception of compromise under no circumstances can really be thought of. The Supreme Court accordingly ruled out mediation in such cases. Apex Court bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant observed “any kind of liberal approach or thought of mediation in this regard is thoroughly and completely sans legal permissibility.” Read more about the judgment here.5. Unwed mother can become sole guardian of a child [ABC vs. State (NCT of Delhi)]In a landmark judgment, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Vikramajit Sen held that an unwed mother in India can apply to become the sole guardian of a child, without giving notice to the father of the child and without disclosing his identity. The Court also directed that if a single parent/unwed mother applies for the issuance of a Birth Certificate for a child born from her womb, the Authorities concerned may only require her to furnish an affidavit to this effect, and must thereupon issue the Birth Certificate, unless there is a Court direction to the contrary. Read more here.6.Uphaar Verdict [Sushil Ansal vs. State through CBI] A verdict which perplexed many this year was the Apex Court ruling on Ansal brothers. 18 years after a massive fire at a theatre in New Delhi’s posh Green Park area snuffed out 59 lives, the Supreme Court let off cinema owners Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal merely asking them to pay a fine of Rs 30 Crore each to the government within three months. Read it here.7. Award Compensation to the victim of crime [Manohar Singh vs. State of Rajasthan]In a significant ruling, The Supreme Court held that the Court while sentencing an accused, the court should not only strike a balance between needs of the society and fairness to the accused, but also should award compensation to the victim of crime. The bench comprising of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that “The court has to give attention not only to the nature of crime, prescribed sentence, mitigating and aggravating circumstances to strike just balance in needs of society and fairness to the accused, but also to keep in mind the need to give justice to the victim of crime.”Read more here.8. Section 364A IPC awarding death penalty not unconstitutional [Vikram Singh vs. Union of India]The Supreme Court of India dismissed an appeal by a death row convict, and held that Section 364A awarding death penalty ...

Best of 2015; Read 25 Significant Judgments delivered by Supreme Court of India this year

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