Supreme Court Delivered Key Verdicts On Presidential Reference, Waqf Law In 2025

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.

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.

Currently, a parliamentary panel is conducting its inquiry against Varma, a condition precedent before the impeachment.

On October 6, advocate Rakesh Kishore, now suspended, hurled a shoe towards then CJI Gavai during proceedings. He was apparently miffed over Gavai's alleged remarks on Hindu gods in an earlier proceeding.

As the incident sparked widespread condemnation, Modi spoke to the then CJI and said the attack was 'reprehensible' and angered every Indian.

The year saw many path-breaking judgements on a range of issues related to public interest, politics, environment, business, crime and complex civil disputes, especially the challenges to the new Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and the presidential reference.

In a boost to the Centre, the apex court said its deletion of the 'waqf by user' provision in the waqf law was prima facie not arbitrary and the argument that waqf lands would be grabbed by governments held 'no water'.

It, however, put on hold a few provisions, including a clause that only those practising Islam for the last five years could create waqf.

The tug of war between governors and opposition-ruled states over delayed or non-grant of assent to bills passed by state assemblies culminated when President Murmu moved the SC seeking its opinion on a range of issues including whether a timeline of three months, as envisaged by a verdict penned by Justice J B Pardiwala, can be fixed for governors and the president.

Answering the reference, a five-judge bench on November 20 delivered unanimous opinion holding that the court cannot impose any timelines on governors and the president to grant assent to bills.

It, however, said governors do not have 'unfettered' powers to sit on the bills for 'perpetuity'.

The stray dogs menace caught the apex court's attention as its two-judge bench took suo motu cognisance of a media report on canine bites leading to rabies, particularly among children, in Delhi.

A slew of directions, including permanent relocation of stray dogs from streets to shelters, created an uproar with several animal rights activists and organisations hitting the streets in protest leading to setting up of a three-judge bench to deal it afresh.

The larger bench modified on August 22 the direction prohibiting the release of vaccinated stray dogs from pounds in Delhi-NCR calling it 'too harsh' and ordered the canines to be released post sterilisation and de-worming.

The spurt of cyber crime cases came under the top court's scanner as it took cognisance of the matter on December 1 asked the CBI to carry out a pan-India probe into digital arrest scam cases, especially where elderly people are duped of their hard earned monies.

The poll panel's decision to conduct special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in various states beginning from Bihar also came up for judicial scrutiny.

The issue relating to the horrific Air India Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad that claimed 260 lives also came to the SC which said no one blamed the chief pilot of the flight for the incident.

Amid growing debate over apex court setting aside its own verdicts post retirement of the author judges, the top court on November 18 reversed its own judgement and paved the way for retrospective environmental clearance (EC) by the Centre and other authorities to projects found violating environmental norms on payment of heavy penalties.

Earlier on May 16, a Justice A S Oka-led bench had barred the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the authorities concerned from granting retrospective ECs to projects which are found in violation of green norms.

On September 26, the top court upheld JSW Steel's Rs 19,700-crore resolution plan for debt-ridden Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL), bringing down curtains to a prolonged legal battle that spanned nearly eight years.

However, in May, a two-judge bench had set aside a resolution plan of applicant JSW Steel Limited for BPSL and ordered its liquidation for violation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

In another significant verdict, the SC struck down key provisions of the 2021 Tribunals Reforms law related to appointment, tenure, and service conditions of tribunal members and presiding officers, saying 'Parliament cannot simply override judicial decision by reenacting' these with minor tweaks.

The SC also delivered a landmark verdict aimed at protecting lawyer-client privilege and issued a slew of directions to curb arbitrary summoning of advocates by probe agencies for rendering advice.

In a major blow to the West Bengal government, the SC invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers in the state-run and aided schools, calling the entire selection process 'vitiated and tainted'.

The cases pertaining to sensational Nithari killings, which came to light with the discovery of skeletal remains of eight children of poor background from a drain behind businessman Moninder Singh Pandher's house at Nithari in Noida on December 29, 2006, were finally closed by the SC with the rejection of CBI's appeals in 12 cases.

Surendra Koli, the only convict in one of the cases, finally walked free as the SC acquitted him of charges in the last such matter.

Former CJI Gavai led benches delivered a slew of verdicts on judiciary including the one in which it made three year experience as a lawyer mandatory for taking up entry-level judicial services exams.

In another verdict, the top court held that a judicial officer can take up exams for higher judiciary under bar quota.

Cracking its whip against social media influencers who were caught ridiculing persons with disabilities and rare genetic disorders, the SC asked the Centre to consider framing a statute to make such derogatory remarks a penal offence on the lines of the SC-ST Act.

It has also asked the Centre to frame guidelines to regulate such contents.

Vantara, Reliance Foundation's zoological rescue and rehabilitation centre, also came up under judicial scrutiny in SC which set up a probe team on August 25 headed by a former apex court judge to look into the allegations of irregularities.

It, however, got a clean chit on September 15 which was later accepted by the SC which said 'no contravention of law' was found.

In a bid to enhance transparency, the SC uploaded statements of assets of judges on its website, in accordance with a full-court decision to place the relevant details in the public domain.

In a first, the apex court introduced a formal reservation policy for the direct appointment and promotion of its staffers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories.

In a notable development, it commenced contempt proceedings against Telangana Assembly speaker for not deciding within stipulated three-months time period the pleas seeking disqualification of some BRS MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress party.

CJI Khanna, in one of his last orders, gave a tongue lashing to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey who said that Justice Khanna was responsible for 'civil wars' in the country.

'At the same time, we are of the firm opinion that courts are not as fragile as flowers to wither and wilt under such ludicrous statements,' CJI Khanna said in his order. PTI ABA SJK PKS ZMN