Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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What is it?How did it come about?Why does it matter?What next? Over 54,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court. But only a few grab public attention, and they become the litmus test for the court. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who assumes office as the Chief Justice of India on October 3, has a slew of keenly watched cases. Some of the most anticipated among them is the monitoring of the preparation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam, which happens to be Justice Gogoi’s native State. A Bench, led by Justice Gogoi, recently agreed to monitor the setting up and functioning of special courts to try cases against sitting Members of Parliament and the Assemblies. Justice Gogoi will head the Supreme Court through a politically-decisive term. He will assume office just months ahead of the 2019 general election. The fate of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid appeals lies in the balance in the court. The incumbent Chief Justice, Dipak Misra, is scheduled to pronounce a judgment this month on whether or not the appeals should be referred to a Constitution Bench. Whatever be the verdict, the next and decisive step would lie with Justice Gogoi. The case of the release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case may bounce back to the court. The State government has requested the Tamil Nadu Governor to release the convicts. If a challenge comes to the court against the Governor’s decision, whatever it may be, the court has limited power of judicial review of the Governor’s constitutional discretion under Article 161. One of the biggest challenges for Justice Gogoi would be the pending petitions against Article 35A, which provides special status, rights and privileges to Jammu and Kashmir. The hearing is scheduled for the second week of January 2019, after the panchayat elections in the State.
