Reminiscing 2014: 15 judgments by the Apex Court that altered the course

Here is a list of the 15 judgments (in no particular order) that were rendered in 2014 and which set the law in a different direction:1. Manohar Lal Sharma The Principal Secretary & Ors.In a move that embarrassed the parties that have been a part of the Government since 1993, the Supreme Court, in August this year declared the Coal allocation between 1993 and 2009 illegal, arbitrary, non-transparent and was devoid of any procedure. The Court came down heavily on the non-transparent manner in which the allocations had been made and averred, “The Screening Committee has never been consistent, it has not been transparent, there is no proper application of mind, it has acted on no material in many cases, relevant factors have seldom been its guiding factors, there was no transparency and guidelines have seldom guided it. On many occasions, guidelines have been honored more in their breach. There was no objective criteria, nay, and no criteria for evaluation of comparative merits. The approach had been ad-hoc and casual. There was no fair and transparent procedure, all resulting in unfair distribution of the national wealth. Common good and public interest have, thus, suffered heavily. Hence, the allocation of coal blocks based on the recommendations made in all the 36 meetings of the Screening Committee is illegal”.2. National Legal Services Authority Union of India and OtherIn this judgment that was hailed by rights activists throughout the country, an apex Court bench comprising of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan directed the Centre and the State Governments to recognize transgender as the third sex and also to provide the benefits of socially and economically backward class to them.The Bench went beyond its call of duty and directed the Government to develop social welfare schemes and run public awareness campaign to erase the social stigma attached to the community. It asserted that the nonexistence of law recognizing transgender as third gender could not be continued as a ground to discriminate them in availing equal opportunities in education and employment.3. Shatrughan Chauhan & Anr. Union of India and OrsConsidering the commutation of death sentences of convicts whose mercy petition had been rejected by the President, a three-judge bench of the apex Court issued landmark guidelines relating to Death Penalty, while allowing all the 13 Writ Petitions. The Supreme Court even dismissed the review petition filed by the Centre subsequently.The judgment is seen as arguably the most impactful judgment of the year, as the Court pronounced it as the duty of the judiciary to step in when the delays in disposing mercy petitions were seen to be “unreasonable, unexplained and exorbitant”.4. People’s Union for Civil Liberties & Anr. State of Maharashtra & Ors.The apex Court issued 16 Guidelines to be followed in the matters of investigating police encounters in the cases of death as the standard procedure for thorough, effective and independent investigation. A two Judge Bench comprising of CJI Lodha and Justice RF Nariman held that Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees “right to live with human dignity”. Any violation of human rights is viewed seriously by Court as right to life is the most precious right guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It also held that killings in police encounters affect the credibility of the rule of law and the administration of the criminal justice system.Over the years the Court has considered several encounter cases, including Chaitanya Kalbagh and Ors. v. State of U.P. and Ors and Prakash Kadam and Ors. v. Ramprasad Viswanath Gupta and Anr., where it issued case specific directions. In PUCL, the Court consolidated the procedural safeguards implicit in these earlier judgments and also articulated the procedures for investigation and maintaining records in greater detail.5. Arnesh Kumar State of Bihar & Anr.In a judgment that was viewed as a check over abuse of power by the authorities in dowry allegations filed under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Dowry Prohibition Act. The apex Court, while deciding an appeal preferred by a husband who apprehended his arrest in a case under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, rewrote the relationship between the Police and the public by issuing strict guidelines to the Police and Magistrate.The Court directed all State Governments to instruct its police officers not to automatically arrest when a case under Section 498-A of the IPC is registered but to satisfy themselves about the necessity for arrest under the parameters laid down above flowing from Section 41, Cr.P.C, among other commendable guidelines issued.6. Adambhai Sulemanbhai Ajmeri & Ors. State of GujaratIn this appeal filed against the death penalty awarded under POTA and Section 302 of the India, the apex Court ...

Reminiscing 2014: 15 judgments by the Apex Court that altered the course

Apoorva Mandhani

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