PRESIDENTIAL REFERENCE, WAQF LAW AMONG KEY SC RULINGS

Landmark verdicts on the powers of governors and the president on bills, staying few provisions of the Waqf law and a series of path-breaking judgements defined 2025 for the Supreme Court, a year which saw an unprecedented shoe attack on CJI B R Gavai and the discovery of huge cash at high court judge Yashwant Varma's bungalow here.

- CORRESPONDENT

The apex judiciary saw a rare transition through three Chief Justices of India (CJIs) within a single year -- Sanjiv Khanna, Gavai, and the incumbent, Surya Kant.

In a move aimed at bolstering judicial independence, justices Khanna and Gavai publicly announced their decisions to not to take any post-retiral assignments, an issue which has been keenly debated.

This set the stage for further institutional transparency, as the court finally began uploading the asset statements of its judges to the public domain and introduced a first-of-its-kind reservation policy for SC/ST categories in its administrative staffing.

The judiciary was rocked after burnt wads of huge currency notes were found at the official residence of Justice Varma, the then sitting Delhi High Court judge, on March 14. This led to a series of decisions including administrative ones by the then CJI Khanna.

After an in-house inquiry panel indicted Justice Varma, he refused to resign even after being nudged by CJI Khanna, who was then compelled to write to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his impeachment.