-The Hindu ‘Why a magistrate has to certify transgenders’ identity’, apex court asks govt The Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to explain why a law meant to protect the transgender community requires a magistrate’s certificate as a prior condition for the State to even identify a transperson. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde issued formal notice to the government on the petition filed by Swati Bidhan...

-The Telegraph Don’t casually curb rights, govt told The Supreme Court on Friday frowned on the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir governments for claiming statutory immunity from revealing the reasons for the restrictions imposed in the region, quoting legal philosopher Lone L. Fuller to say “there can be no greater legal monstrosity than a secret statute”. “A democracy, which is sworn to transparency and accountability, necessarily mandates the production of orders as...

-The Indian Express The relationship of the RTI with the judiciary has been fraught from the beginning. Since the RTI Act conferred powers on the chief justice of the Supreme Court of India and the chief justices of high courts of states for carrying out its provisions, all these courts framed their own rules. On November 13, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court passed its order in the Subhash...

-The Indian Express The scheduled hearing will decide the legality of several cases of land acquisition that took place across the country before 2009. The matter also raises significant questions on judicial discipline, and how judgments of the court are applied while deciding subsequent cases on similar issues. On Tuesday, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will begin hearing a case to clarify the interpretation of the law on...

-The Indian Express The fate of close to two million people excluded from the NRC in Assam rests with the Foreigners Tribunals. The constitutionality and conduct of these quasi-judicial bodies are questionable Over 1.9 million people have been excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The herculean executive exercise, mandated and closely monitored by the Supreme Court, has incurred a staggering expenditure of over Rs 1,200 crore...