Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant hoisted the National Flag at the Supreme Court of India on the occasion of Independence Day.
Members of the Bar were present at the ceremony, along with office-bearers of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA).
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to declare hanging unconstitutional as a method of executing the death penalty and replace it with a more humane and painless alternative.
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declined to refer the issue to a larger Bench for reconsideration of the constitutional validity of the provisions prescribing hanging as the mode of execution.
The Court was hearing the petition in Rishi Malhotra v. Union of India, filed in 2017 by Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra challenging Section 354(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), now replaced by the corresponding provision under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai has secured a decisive victory in the 2026 election of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), defeating Advocate Anupam Lal Das by a substantial margin of 371 votes.
Rai polled 822 votes, while Das secured 451 votes. Advocates Adish Agarwala, Gaurav Bhatia, Sukumat Pattajoshi, Dr. KS Chauhan followed in the contest.
With 940 votes, Rai emerged as the clear choice of the Supreme Court Bar, securing the office of President of the SCBA with a commanding lead over his nearest rival.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has witnessed several legal luminaries occupy the office of its President over the decades, including M.C. Setalvad, C.K. Daphtary, M.C. Chagla, A.K. Sen, L.M. Singhvi, M.C. Bhandare, P.P. Rao, K.K. Venugopal, R.K. Jain, Ram Jethmalani and Kapil Sibal, among others. Yet, despite their stature and eminence at the Bar, several distinguished members of the Supreme Court Bar have either chosen not to enter the electoral politics of the Association or have tried and failed to secure its top post.
The 2026 SCBA presidential election once again demonstrated that professional stature and public visibility alone do not guarantee electoral success. Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai emerged victorious with a decisive mandate, while Senior Advocate Gaurav Bhatia finished fourth with 370 votes.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to examine whether restrictions on firecrackers could be partially relaxed during the upcoming Diwali season, particularly with regard to permissible noise limits.
A Bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale urged the CPCB to explore the possibility of allowing certain categories of firecrackers within specified noise limits. The Court stressed that the issue should be considered well in advance of Diwali rather than being taken up at the last moment.
“Please give some exception; we don’t want to rush it up just before Diwali,” the Bench observed.
The matter arises from a 2015 case concerning restrictions on firecracker use in Delhi and other northern States during the period when air pollution levels typically worsen between October and January.
In view of Delhi’s persistent air-quality concerns, the Supreme Court had earlier imposed stringent restrictions on the sale and use of firecrackers in the national capital. However, in 2025, the Court permitted the sale and bursting of green firecrackers in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) during Diwali for a limited period.
During the previous hearing on July 22, the Court had asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to obtain instructions from the CPCB on whether a limited relaxation could be considered for certain types of firecrackers, particularly in relation to noise restrictions.
Former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court’s recent judgment convicting him in the 2013 rape case and sentencing him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Tejpal’s appeal comes shortly after the Goa government also moved the Supreme Court, seeking enhancement of his sentence to life imprisonment. The State, however, has not challenged the High Court’s finding of guilt.
The Bombay High Court’s Goa Bench of Justices Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar had, on August 6, overturned Tejpal’s acquittal by the trial court and convicted him for the offences arising from the 2013 incident.
While seeking life imprisonment, the Goa government had argued for a harsher sentence. The High Court, however, declined to impose the maximum punishment.
The Supreme Court on Friday modified its earlier decision on the eligibility of candidates seeking entry into the judicial service, reducing the mandatory legal practice requirement from three years to one year.
The Court, however, has retained the requirement that candidates must undergo practical training before they are appointed as regular judicial officers.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Augustine George Masih and K Vinod Chandran passed the order while deciding a batch of review petitions challenging the Supreme Court’s May 2025 judgment. Justice K Vinod Chandran dissented and favoured upholding the earlier judgment in full.
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