CAA to Art 370: SC to hear key cases
NEW DELHI: With the reopening of the Supreme Court on Monday after winter vacation, all eyes will be on the adjudication of contentious issues including controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution.
The year 2020 will also witness the apex court constituting a seven-judge Constitution bench to examine the issue of entry of women of all ages into the hill shrine of historic Sabarimala temple, which was referred by a five-judge bench for fixing parameters to deal with alleged discrimination against Muslim and Parsi women.
The first working day of the new year is also likely to have a mention of the petition filed by
Tata Sons Private Limited (TSPL) challenging the December 18 decision of NCLAT restoring Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the group and saying the verdict had “undermined corporate democracy” and the “rights” of its board of directors.
The top court will also take up the contentious issue of whether the creamy layer concept should apply to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes while giving them reservation in promotions.
In December 2019, the Centre had urged the Supreme Court to refer its 2018 verdict excluding the creamy layer within the SC/ST community from reservation benefits to a seven-judge bench for a review.
The apex court will keep an eye on air pollution matter in which the court has been passing slew of directions from time to time.
On January 21, a five-judge
Constitution bench headed by Justices N V Ramana is likely to resume hearing on a batch of petitions challenging Centre’s August last year decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The top court had on December 12 indicated that it may consider the question of referring the issue of challenge to the abrogation of provisions of Article 370, to a larger sevenjudge bench after hearing the preliminary submission of all the parties.
A number of petitions have been filed in the matter including that of private individuals, lawyers, activists and political parties and they have also challenged the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, which splits J&K into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and
Ladakh. Eyes are also set on the pronouncement of verdict on a batch of pleas including that of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad challenging restrictions imposed in J&K following abrogation of provisions of Article 370.
On January 22, a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the amended Citizenship Act, which seeks to grant citizenship to non-muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.
The top court on December 18, while agreeing to examine the issue, had issued notice to the Centre and sought its response by the second week of January.