Author: Anvita Dwivedi

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi has issued notice to Eros International Media Ltd. in an appeal filed by Phantom Studios India Pvt. Ltd. challenging the dismissal of its insolvency petition by the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal. The dispute, arising out of the co-production arrangement for the Hindi film NH-10, presents an important insolvency question concerning the character of money claims arising from a joint commercial venture: when parties jointly produce, finance, exploit and share the revenues of a film, can an unpaid amount between them be characterised as an “operational debt” so as…

The Gujarat High Court has once again brought into focus the delicate boundary between the citizen’s right to know and an individual’s right to privacy, holding that the educational records of Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot be sought under the Right to Information Act merely because he occupies the country’s highest elected constitutional office. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray dismissed Arvind Kejriwal’s appeal against the March 2023 judgment of the Single Judge, thereby leaving intact the quashing of a Central Information Commission direction concerning disclosure of information relating to the Prime Minister’s educational…

The Supreme Court on Wednesday witnessed an unusual courtroom exchange over the manner in which a contempt petition concerning the deputation of IPS officers to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) was shifted from the Bench hearing the contempt proceedings to a newly constituted Special Bench. The Bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan questioned why the original Bench had not been informed before the matter was mentioned before the Chief Justice of India and subsequently removed from the cause list. The Centre, through Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, explained that the request for clubbing the contempt proceedings…

The constitutional boundary between legislative privilege and the freedom of speech of citizens is set to come under renewed scrutiny before a seven-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, with comedian Kunal Kamra seeking permission to intervene in the long-pending proceedings concerning the scope of privileges enjoyed by State Legislatures. Kamra’s intervention application acquires particular significance because he is himself facing breach of privilege proceedings before the Maharashtra Legislature arising from a satirical performance concerning Maharashtra’s political developments. He has contended that the constitutional questions pending before the Supreme Court have a direct bearing on his own proceedings and, more broadly,…

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has recommended the elevation of three sitting High Court Chief Justices to the Supreme Court, bringing questions of judicial strength, institutional continuity, representation and the functioning of the Collegium once again to the centre of the judicial appointments debate. The recommendations, made at the Collegium meeting held on September 28, 2026, concern Justice Sunita Agarwal, Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court; Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court; and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. The official resolution…

The Supreme Court is set to hear next week a petition questioning the manner in which certain decisions of the Election Commission of India are alleged to have been taken during the tenure of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The petition raises a constitutional question that goes considerably beyond the functioning of one office-holder: whether powers vested by Article 324 of the Constitution in the Election Commission as an institution can lawfully be exercised by the Chief Election Commissioner without the participation or concurrence of the other Election Commissioners. The petition has been filed by Rakesh Kumar Singh under Article…

The Supreme Court witnessed an unusual and deeply personal moment on September 29 when Justice Dipankar Datta, while pronouncing a judgment along with Justice Sheel Nagu, began the decision by remembering a young law clerk who had worked in his chambers and died only days before his 27th birthday. Law Clerk-cum-Research Associate Ritwik Deswal had contributed to the preparation of the judgment, and Justice Datta chose to formally acknowledge that contribution by placing the words “in memoriam” at the beginning of the judicial decision. The tribute, however, acquired a significance beyond the personal grief expressed from the Bench. The judgment…

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to commentator and YouTuber Ajeet Bharti in a case arising from alleged caste-related and derogatory remarks concerning Nagina Member of Parliament Chandrashekhar Azad and members of the Scheduled Caste community. Justice Saurabh Banerjee dismissed the petition after holding that an offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was prima facie made out and that the statutory restriction on anticipatory bail consequently applied. The Court’s order presently available is limited to the bail question; a detailed order setting out the reasoning is awaited. The…

The Punjab and Haryana High Court was called upon to exercise one of the most immediate forms of constitutional judicial protection late on September 23, when the Punjab Government approached the Court alleging that senior government officers had effectively been detained during an ongoing Enforcement Directorate search at the premises of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The unusual urgency of the proceedings resulted in a late-night hearing conducted through a WhatsApp video call, with the Court eventually directing the appointment of a Warrant Officer to physically ascertain what was happening at the premises. Justice Sanjay Vashisht took up…

The Supreme Court has commuted the death sentence imposed on Waris, a man convicted of the rape and murder of his six-year-old stepdaughter in Madhya Pradesh, while upholding the finding of guilt recorded against him. A three-Judge Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi dealt with Criminal Appeals Nos. 429-430 of 2020 and declined to disturb the conviction, but concluded that the capital punishment imposed by the courts below could not be sustained. The decision once again places the constitutional philosophy of sentencing at the centre of a case involving one of the most serious categories of…