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Legal News

Padmanabha Swamy Temple to be managed by the ex-royal family rules Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the appeals by members of the erstwhile Travancore royal family in the case of the management of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.

It said that the District Judge of Thiruvananthapuram would head the administrative committee to manage the affairs of the Temple.

Noting that the family’s role will continue despite the death of the head, the apex court said that the scheme given by the District judge would continue.

Shebaitship of the erstwhile Travancore royals survives on the death of the ruler as per custom, the Court said, adding that the death of ruler does not result in escheat in favor of government despite 26th Amendment of the Constitution.

Source- The Hindu 
Legal News

Chhattisgarh organizes India’s first e-Lok Adalat, Settles disputes via Video Conferencing.

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The Chhattisgarh High Court and the State Legal Services Authority organized the country’s first-ever e-Lok Adalat on Saturday, amid the restricted judicial functioning owing to Covid-19 outbreak.

The session was inaugurated by the Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court, Justice P R Ramachandra Menon. The e-Lok Adalat is cited as the first such attempt in the country.

About 195 benches were constituted at different places of the state, including remote areas like Sarguja, Kanker, Bastar, Surajpur, etc. via video conferencing, and 3135 cases were identified for compromise 2270 cases were settled in a single day through virtual mode.

The inaugural ceremony was presided over by Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Executive Chairman of SLSA, Chhattisgarh. High Court judges Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastav (Chairman computerization committee) and Goutam Bhaduri(Chairman of HCLSC) were also present during the ceremony.

The e-Lok Adalat was held with the joint efforts of Mr. Shahabuddin Qureshi CPC, High court, Mr. Siddharth Aggarwal, Member secretary, SLSA, and the entire team of DLSAs across Chhattisgarh.

Source: Live law
Legal News

Permit advocates to take up alternative works, plea filed in the Supreme Court

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A plea has been filed with the supreme court of India by a practising lawyer and Senior standing counsel to the Income-tax department, Charanjeet Chanderpal.
It seeks issuance of directions to the bar council of India till march 2021 so that other paralegal work can be taken up to earn the livelihood amid the pandemic and allow other ways of sustenance.
The plea says that the rules and regulations should be changed so that lawyers from middle and lower-middle-class can sustain themselves.
The plea highlights that instead of providing 3000,5000 to the advocates for sustaining themselves in the short term, a long term solution has to be provided.
It also highlights the loss of income that have been faced by the advocates in the pandemic during the lockdown which resulted in many reports of suicides, depression and inability to sustain. So it is requested in the plea to alter the rules and regulations in the advocate’s act,1961.

Source: Live Law
Articles

MEDIATION A TOOL FOR ACCESS TO JUSTICE

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This article deals with the topic of mediation which is a part of ADR. This article basically talks about the importance of mediation and how it is important in these times.


INTRODUCTION

ADR i.e. alternative Dispute Resolution as it very well may be effectively comprehended by the words that ADR is an alternative technique to resolve disputes now first we need to comprehend that what is the conventional method that is “court”. In India, as we all know there are plenty of cases pending and courts can’t resolve all the cases and the Indian judiciary is inefficient to manage the pending cases. The administration knows about this reality and that is the reason the legislature has supported for setting up in excess of a thousand fast track courts and these courts help a ton to break up and settle a large number of cases. Be that as it may, much after that the number of pending cases is expanding day by day.

To manage this sort of circumstance ADR can assume an extremely indispensable job. ADR can resolve the dispute swiftly and the decision that gets through this ADR is acknowledged by both the parties. ADR is generally acknowledged on the grounds that it settle the dispute in practice a wide range of issues like a commercial, civil, family and industrial issues, and so on.1

RELATION OF ADR WITH CONSTITUTION AND OTHER ACTS.

At the point when we talk about ADR in the Indian situation so ADR in India was founded on the Constitutional article 14 right to equality and Article 21 right to life and personal liberty. Article 39 A, DPSPs, are likewise included in the ADR for giving justice and free legal aid, Furthermore, when we talk about explicit acts that are connected with ADR so for the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 and legal services authority act 1987 is there. Section 89 of CPC 1908 likewise discusses the alternative method, this section gives that opportunity to the individuals, in the event that it seems to court there exists a component of settlement outside the courts at that point court figure the particulars of a potential settlement and allude the equivalent for arbitration, conciliation, mediation and Lok Adalat.


WHY ADR IS THE NEED OF THE TIME?

Since this procedure is quick thusly less time-consuming in contrast with conventional court procedures. Less expensive than litigation and saves money as well. It is adaptable and liberated from the technicalities of courts and individuals can resolve their disputes without any problem. It is a nonbinding procedure with the exception of from few methods people are allowed to express and they can reveal the true facts identified with the case.


TYPES OF ADR

  • Arbitration
  • Conciliation
  • Negotiation
  • Mediation
  • Lok Adalat

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE?

In 1999 the then chief justice of the family court Alastair Nicholson, and sue lynch wrote: “any conversation of access to Justice should be set inside a more extensive setting than that of the legal framework alone and in the time of 2009 the access to the justice task force in the commonwealth attorney, journals dept. Published ‘ a key structure for access to justice in the federal civil justice framework. Access to justice is key to the standard of law and basic to the enjoyment regarding fundamental human rights, it is a basic precondition to social incorporation and a basic component of a well-working majority rule government. An effective justice system must be available in the entirety of its parts without this, the framework dangers losing its significance to, and the regard of the network it serves availability is about more than straightforward entry to land stone structure or getting legal advice. While courts are a significant part of the justice system, there are numerous circumstances courts are the last spot individuals will get the result they are searching for to determine issues.

The basic test is whether our justice system is simple, reasonable, and affordable. It is additionally significant that the framework gives viable early mediation to assist individuals with settling issues before they raise and lead to digging in a disservice.

An alternative mechanism to improve value and access to justice and accomplish lower cast civil dispute resolution, in both metropolitan regions and provincial and remote communities and the expense and advantages of these.

Where parties can’t arrive at a private resolution, the civil justice system gives them different approaches to determine the dispute and mediation is one of the ways.


WHAT IS MEDIATION?

Mediation is one of the methods of alternative dispute resolution(ADR) accessible to parties. Mediation is basically a negotiation encouraged by an impartial third party. Unlike arbitration, which is a procedure of ADR fairly like a trial, mediation doesn’t include decisions by the impartial third party. ADR techniques can be started by the parties or might be constrained by enactment, the courts, or legally binding terms.


IS MEDIATION RIGHT FOR YOU?

At the point when pieties are reluctant or unable to resolve a dispute, one great option is to go to mediation. Mediation is commonly a short term, structured, task-situated, and “hands-on” process.

In meditation, the disputing parties work with an unbiased third party, the mediator, to determine their disputes. The mediator encourages the resolution of the parties’ disputes by regulating the exchange of information and the haggling procedure. The mediator enables the parties to discover shared opinions and manage unrealistic desires. The individual may likewise offer inventive arrangements and help with drafting a final assessment. The role of the mediator is to decipher concerns, transfer information between the parties, outline issues, and characterize the issues.


WHEN TO MEDIATE

Mediation is generally a voluntary procedure, albeit now and again resolutions, rules, or court orders may require participation in mediation. Mediation is regular in small claims courts, housing courts, family courts, and some criminal court projects and neighbourhood justice system.

Dissimilar to the litigation procedure, where a nonpartisan third party (normally a judge) imposes a decision over the issue, the parties and their mediator commonly control the mediation process – choosing when and where the mediation happens, who will be present, how the mediation will be paid for, and how the mediator will interface with the parties.


WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE MEDIATOR

Every time the last decision is taken by the parties and the mediator doesn’t decide anything and he has no power to decide the dispute between the parties and essentially put he is the guardian of the procedure and he can’t give his recommendation gave it is evaluative mediation. Be that as it may, what does the mediator do is he simply offer his input and attempt to come to a conclusion which is generally of the parties by their own points.


PROCEDURE

  • Opening statement
  • Joint session
  • Separate session
  • Closing

In the opening statement, the mediator just gives all the information about his appointment and he proclaims that he is an unbiased individual and he has no interest in the subject matter. In the joint session, the mediator attempts to comprehend the facts and the issues of the case and he assembles each data identified with the dispute by welcoming both the parties and parties present their case and give their point of view looking into the case.

In the separate session fundamentally mediator accumulates information by taking both the parties in confidence separately and he attempts to comprehend the core of the dispute. In the wake of hearing both the parties and when he comprehends the entire dispute, he attempts to make alternatives for settlement through parties on the statement, facts which are given by the parties subsequent to being asked by the mediator.

Mediation is not quite the same as conciliation as conciliation is the formulation of opinion and conveyance of verdict. Be that as it may, in mediation, a mediator is just a facilitator and just render his opinion in the dispute and he can convey his verdict with respect to the contest anyway the conciliator plays more interventionist role and make a proposition for the dispute and this was decided in the case of Salem Advocate Bar Association v. U.O.I; in this case, SC held that mediator is merely a facilitator while the conciliator by making proposals for a settlement of the dispute and by reformulation the conditions of the settlement assume a progressively dynamic the mediation is the procedure of structured negotiation including various stages like a joint session, introduction, separate session and so on.


HOW IT IS A TOOL FOR ACCESS TO JUSTICE

As we already understood that what is the significance of access to justice and how it is related to ADR now let’s try to understand how it is a tool for access to Justice.

At the point when parties can’t arrive at a private resolution then the civil justice system gives them different approaches to determine the contest mediation at that point turns into the most embraced structure for this since it is the nonbinding decision by the mediator. Parties can without much of a stretch access the Justice through their own particular manner by giving the fact to the mediator and thus resolve the dispute, access to Justice implies the capacity to get Justice by any individual and the most ordinary method for getting justice is through a court of law yet nowadays courts are overburdened by loads of cases at the principal example court alludes the parties to determine the dispute through mediation.

As has just been expressed that a mediator is a nonpartisan third party that goes about as a guardian of the procedure without mediating in the topic makes it a method for settling disputes agreeably and it additionally is a swift and adaptable method for resolving disputes with sets aside both money and time. Since mediation isn’t a procedure to be recorded for the public record their for it likewise spares the generosity of the parties from being discoloured. Every one of these highlights of mediation makes it the fittest method for resolving disputes between parties in today’s time when the courts are troubled with cases.


CONCLUSION

Mediation is one of a few ways to deal with resolving disputes It contrasts from the antagonistic resolution process by temperance of its simplicity, familiarity, flexibility, and economy. Mediation gives the chance to parties to concur terms and resolve issues without anyone else, without the requirement for legal representation or court hearings.

Why mediation is important and how it is a tool for access to justice, following are some of the benefits which typically associated with mediation.

  • Recognition
  • Empowerment
  • Speedy trial
  • Economical
  • Confidentiality
  • Quality of settlement
  • Avoid bad outcomes


The prior is only a portion of the convincing reasons to mediate disputes. Besides, there is only here and there any genuine drawback to mediation. While some may hesitate “to lay it all out there” in mediation, in this period of disclosure driven litigation, the old “trial by ambush” long stretches of civil litigation are progressively turning into a relic of times gone by. Mediation works not just on the grounds that it centres around the parties, own interests, and agendas. yet in addition since it gives the chance to parties to move beyond dispute proficiently and graph their own future.

Articles

DATA PRIVACY IN REFERENCE WITH AROGYA SETU APP

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The application – Aarogya Setu, which signifies “bridge to health” in Sanskrit – was launched only a month and a half ago.
India has made it compulsory for government and private part employees to download it.
However, users and experts in India and around the globe state the application raise colossal data security concerns.


Aarogya Setu stores location information and requires consistent access to the mobile Bluetooth which, experts state, makes it obtrusive from a security and privacy perspective.
In Singapore, for instance, the TraceTogether application can be utilized solely by its health ministry to get to the information. It guarantees peoples that the information is to be utilized carefully for disease control and won’t be imparted to the law enforcement agencies for implementing lockdowns and quarantine.

“Aarogya Setu holds the adaptability to do only that, or to guarantee consistency of lawful requests, etc,” says the Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights and liberties advocacy group in Delhi.

Concerns have also been raised over how much data the app collects. It asks its users to share their name, phone number, age, gender, profession, and details of countries visited in the last 30 days.
In addition, it asks users to self-assess for any possible COVID-19 symptoms and enter that data daily. The app shows users how many people have symptoms in a particular radius, and how many have tested positive. It sends alerts when a new person near you tests positive, or if someone who was near you previously tests positive.


India has no national data privacy law, and it’s not clear who has access to data from the app and in what situations,” researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have said in a review. The team at MIT ranks various COVID tracing tracker apps around the world for their transparency and other factors, and Aarogya Setu met just two of its five criteria.

There are no strong, transparent policy or design limitations on accessing or using the data at this point,” the researchers say while noting that India is the “only democracy making its app mandatory for millions of people.


Some fear India’s app could be used in a way that would violate civil liberties, including by helping to build a state surveillance system that could be exploited after the app outlives its coronavirus-tracking purpose.

The government, meanwhile, is considering expanding the mandate for the app. It already covers all train travellers, and it may also apply to air passengers once the world’s biggest COVID-lockdown lifts and flights resume.

Violation of the law laid down by the Supreme Court– It is important to note that the Aarogya Setu app has been launched in the time of an ongoing pandemic, when the Governments are trying to maximise data collection, often at the cost of privacy rights of citizens. India does not have a law dealing with personal data protection which should be limiting data collection and processing. SFLC.IN, along with a coalition of lawyers, social activists, entrepreneurs, and concerned citizens, had recently sent a joint letter to various ministries of the Central Government and also the heads of states and union territories expressing concerns over the unwarranted and excessive collection of personal data during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic urging the various governments to follow law enunciated in various Supreme Court judgments. If you haven’t signed on the campaign letter.


“Aarogya Setu” is not open source – Though the Central Government has a prevailing policy on adoption of open source software the Aarogya Setu app’s code has not been made open source. Making the source code available enhances transparency and this also improves security as the code is open to community audit. The app primarily collects personal data from user cellphones and cellphones are an immense repository of personal data of users and sometimes, of a user’s contacts and acquaintances. In this scenario, keeping the source code of such an app proprietary is not advisable.

Articles

PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY

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Meanings of Parliamentary Sovereignty: According to Prof. AV Dicey in his book, An Introduction to the Study of the Constitution, which was distributed in 1885, characterized the term as the privilege of Parliament to cause a to unmake any law whatever; and further that the law of England perceives no individual or body as reserving an option to revoke or put aside the enactment of Parliament.

Throughout the year’s specialists have contended for the cutoff points on parliamentary sovereignty to be perceived and that courts ought not to guard statues that attack democracy, the rule of law, and civil liberties. This pattern of contending for cutoff points to parliamentary sovereignty had now gotten judicial acknowledgement in R (Jackson) v A G 2005 Lords (upholding the Hunting Act 2004) when Lord Hope said ‘Parliamentary sovereignty is an unfilled guideline if legislation is passed which is so ludicrous or so unsatisfactory that the individuals everywhere decline to remember it as law.’ The essential issue here is ensuring civil liberties and upholding the standard of the law.

The history behind this concept

The UK constitution is frequently depicted as an ‘unwritten constitution,’ yet it is best portrayed as ‘partly written and entirely uncodified’ (Budge et al., 1998). The principal source being the statues, laws established by the parliament, thus giving the parliament the supreme capacity to make and unmake laws in the entire UK. For instance, in 1984, the Government prohibited the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) worker’s guild dependent on unsound contentions, which were in the end switched by the approaching Government in 1997. Dicey (1964) considered parliamentary sovereignty as the essential protected head and all else subordinate to this head. The primary dispute of Dicey’s principle is that in constitutional democracy based system, force ought not to be total, and it ought to be controlled. The central question is under what conditions can courts address or modifies an act of parliament.

Is Indian parliament sovereign ?

In March 1975, Indira Gandhi, the then PM with a large dominant party in Parliament, endured a thrashing in the courts. Rather than complying with a mellow choice of the court (‘avoid casting a ballot in the Lok Sabha’), she forced Emergency, marked into law by then-president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The beautiful thing about the Emergency was that it was constitutional. It isn’t ‘We the People’ who rule India. It is the chosen dominant party going about as the Executive.

What are the factors which limit the sovereignty of the Indian parliament?

Those factors are mentioned below:

Written nature the Constitution
The Constitution is the fundamental law that must be adhered to in our nation. Parliament needs to work inside the cutoff points endorsed by the Constitution.

Federal system of government
India has a federal system of government with a constitutional division of forces between the Union and the states. Both need to work inside the circles allocated to them. Subsequently, the law-making authority of the Parliament gets kept to the subjects identified in the Union List and Concurrent List.

System of judicial review
The reception of an autonomous Judiciary with the intensity of judicial review likewise limits the matchless quality of our Parliament. Both the Supreme Court and High Courts can proclaim the laws sanctioned by the Parliament as void and ultra vires.

Fundamental rights
The authority of the Parliament is likewise limited by the joining of a code of fundamental judicial rights under Part III of the Constitution. Article 13 precludes the State from making a law that either removes absolutely or repeals to some degree a fundamental right. Subsequently, a Parliamentary law that repudiates the fundamental rights will be void.

In certain nations, parliamentary sovereignty might be stood out from separation of powers, which constrains the governing body’s extension regularly to general law-production, and judicial review, where laws passed by the lawmaking body might be pronounced invalid in specific conditions.
Many states have sovereign legislatures, including the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Barbados, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Israel, and the Solomon Islands.

Parliamentary sovereignty is basically the need that parliament has over other law-making bodies. Fundamentally, parliament can’t settle on any choices that would tie future parliaments. This basically expels the opportunity of having a codified constitution as this would require the evacuation of parliamentary sovereignty before a written constitution could become revered into British law. The idea of sovereignty returns a few centuries; until 1689, it was the monarch who held a definitive force. This was changed to give parliament the top political and law-making rule, in spite of the fact that the monarch is still intensely included.
The idea of parliamentary sovereignty is generally viewed as the focal idea for the British constitution. Basically, parliamentary sovereignty perceives the possibility that parliament is the preeminent law-making body inside the UK. Not at all like different nations, for example, the USA or Germany, the UK doesn’t have one single content for its constitution and is un-classified. This doesn’t be that as it may diminish its focal significance to the UK constitutional procedures.

Parliamentary sovereignty has been the essential foundation of established law in the UK for a few centuries. In spite of this, ongoing occasions identifying with joining the European Union have restricted the preeminent force that parliament had by dissolving two of the principal factors alluded to by Dicey. Initially, the legal executive has a substantially more political job by ideals of the Human Rights Act 1998, therefore permitting it to challenge the decisions of parliament; and furthermore, there is currently a higher assemblage of law that has a direct impact on the UK. Both of these elements have acted to restrict, however not expel, the customary idea of parliamentary sovereignty.
The human rights ramifications of leaving the EU are significant. With neither a justiciable bill of rights nor the coupling idea of EU rights, Parliament remains the last overseer of human rights in the UK. The Supreme Court in Miller, a long way from applying the intensity of a delegated legal executive, in actuality reasserted the major equitable standard of government through representative Parliament.

Articles

MEDIA TRIAL

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Whenever a sensational criminal case comes to be tried before the court, there is an expected upsurge in the public curiosity. Using the thirst for sensational news, Media, including TV Channels, Newspapers, News Websites etc. start publishing their own version of the facts. They call it investigative journalism, which is not prohibited in India. The impact of television and newspaper coverage on an individual’s reputation by creating a widespread perception of guilt or innocence even before a court of law has announced its verdict, is called “Media Trial” or “Trial by media”.

Legal Provisions pertaining to Media Trial

Following legal and constitutional provisions:

Freedom of Expression

The Freedom of Expression has been enshrined in Article 19(1) of the constitution. This article is one of the important facilitators for widespread media engagement in democracy. On the other hand, Article 19(2) empowers the state to put reasonable restrictions on the freedom given by Article 19(1).

Right to Life and Liberty / Right to Privacy / RTI

The media trial has been alleged to violate the Fundamental Right secured by Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of an individual. Right to Privacy has been recognized as a right “implicit in the right to life and liberty guaranteed to the citizens of this country by Article 21. However, the law of the land has made some exceptions to the rule of privacy in the interest of the public, especially, subsequent to the enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI).

During media trials, not only the suspects and accused but also the victims suffer from excessive publicity and invasion of their privacy rights. When the media unilaterally conducts a sting operation, it violates the privacy of another person and makes it liable for legal action. The right to privacy of an individual should be protected unless there is an identifiable large public interest.

Under the RTI act is also an exception under section 8 (1) (j), which exempts disclosure of any personal information which is not connected to any public activity or of public interest or which would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy of an individual. However, what constitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy is not defined.

Right to Reputation

Right to reputation implies that any allegation casting an adverse reflection on the character of an individual should not be published, unless it comes under certain circumstances. If it is not under those circumstances, the media entity will be guilty of defamation. This also emanates from article 21 of the constitution.

Laws of contempt of court

The paramount considerations for the law of contempt of court include the dignity of the court and fairness of the trial. This implies that once a case has reached court, no one is allowed to publish his own version of the facts. A violation of this rule, which has evolved judicially, would amount to contempt of court. It is backed by various statutes and prohibits the publication/broadcast of certain matters under the court trial. One example is that the name of a rape victim cannot be published without permission of the court.

Current Affairs on Media Trial

Former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha described the issue as “very serious” and said the court would consider some guidelines to be put in place for balancing the rights and interests of all the stakeholders.

  • The Supreme Court needs to delve into the issue in the wake of growing instances of trials by media and public condemnation of accused on the basis of information provided by police and prosecutors although the trial remains to conclude.
  • Court has taken a serious note on a media briefing by police and other investigating agencies.
  • Nothing should be done to hamper investigations and secrecy of the probe.
  • This all needs certain checks because they all touch upon Article 21.
  • A parallel process of trial by media should not be allowed when a trial is already going on in court.

The Supreme Court is now expected to consider framing guidelines for media over covering criminal cases and briefing by investigating agencies.

Legal News

Supreme court to hear petitions of foreign nationals on June 29

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Supreme court has decided today to hear the plea on June 29 of the foreign nationals who were blacklisted by the Indian government.
The Thai women have challenged the order that came on April 2 and June 4.
According to it, the Government blacklisted 2500 foreign nationals from 35 countries because they were alleged to be involved in Tablighi jamaat activities. The bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari will hear the plea.
The foreign nationals argue that they have not been given a chance to be heard at any place and have been blacklisted. This has infringed their right of locomotion and they are unable to go back to their place of nationality. In addition to it, the petitioners say it has resulted in the violation of article 21 (protection of life and liberty) of the Constitution.


Source: The Hindu

Legal News

The high court cannot convert itself to a court of appeal under Section 227: Supreme Court

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The supreme court today has told in a case that when a high court hears a case under article 227 it cannot convert itself as a court of appeal.
So, according to the Constitution article 226, the high court has an original jurisdiction under which the high courts can issue, to any person or authority, including the government (inappropriate case), directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto, certiorari or any of them. And under article 227, it gives the high court the power of superintendence over lower courts.

In this case, the Rent Controller and Eviction officer have passed a judgement which was then again heard in the district court. And further, when it was filed to the high court, it observed that ground that the District Judge had committed illegality in entertaining the joint revision filed against the vacancy order as well as the final order.
The supreme court said that the High court has ignored the earlier judgement which has come in the case of Achal Mishra Vs Rama Shanker Singh, and here the district court judge is completely justified in interfering with the order passed by the Rent Controller and Eviction Officer.
The supreme court said that the exercise of jurisdiction by the High Court under Article 227 in the present case was patently unwarranted and unjustified. 


Source: Live Law
Articles

CONSTITUTION BENCH OF SUPREME COURT

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Introduction: CJI indicates that CAA issue may be eventually referred to Constitution Bench
Recently an act passed by the Indian Parliament (Citizenship Amendment act, 2019) and according to that act, members of Hindu, Parsi, Sikhs, Buddhists Communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan till 31st December 2014 and they faced religion prosecution in their country so, they will not be treated as illegal immigrants but they will get the Indian Citizenship.
But there are so many people in the country who are opposing this act because of various reasons and one of the main reason they are opposing this act is because they believe that this act is against the Article 14 of Constitution- Right to Equality (Fundamental Rights). After these violent and consistent protest in the country approx. 140 petitions filed in Supreme Court a bench headed by Chief Justice of India(CJI) is hearing pleas challenging the validity of CAA, 2019 and while hearing these petitions the Supreme Court hinted that it may refer the matter to a Constitution Bench.


What is Constitution Bench?
Constitution Bench is the bench of the Supreme Court of India which is having five or more judges on it. And this bench is basically setup to decide substantial question of law with regard to the interpretation of the constitution in the case. According to the Article 145(3) in The Constitution Of India 1949
“ The minimum number of Judges who are to sit for the purpose of deciding any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution or for the purpose of hearing any reference under Article 143 shall be five”. Article 143 deals with the power of the president of India to consult the supreme court.
According to Supreme Court’s handbook on procedure the chief justice has the authority to form the constitution bench on time to time and the bench must of five or more judges.
It also says: “Every petition calling in question the election of the President and Vice-President under Article 71 of the Constitution read with Part III of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, shall be posted before a Bench of five Judges under Order XLVI of the Rules.”
Constitution Bench normally have five judges, but it can be larger than that and in some cases there have been benches with seven, nine and thirteen judges.


Difference between Division Bench and Constitution Bench
As it can be understood by the name Division bench is a bench of two judges whether it is High Court or Supreme Court and there is no specific provision regarding the division bench in constitution.
The Constitution bench is a term given to a bench of minimum five judges And this bench is basically setup to decide substantial question of law with regard to the interpretation of the constitution in the case.


Constitutional provision for it
As mentioned above that according to the Article 145(3) in The Constitution Of India 1949. The minimum number of Judges who are to sit for the purpose of deciding any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution or for the purpose of hearing any reference under Article 143 shall be five: Provided that, where the Court hearing an appeal under any of the provisions of this chapter other than Article 132 consists of less than five Judges and in the course of the hearing of the appeal the Court is satisfied that the appeal involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution the determination of which is necessary for the disposal of the appeal, such Court shall refer the question for opinion to a Court constituted as required by this clause for the purpose of deciding any case involving such a question and shall on receipt of the opinion dispose of the appeal in conformity with such opinion.

Article 143 in The Constitution Of India 1949

Article 143– Power of President to consult Supreme Court ( 1 ) If at any time it appears to the President that a question of law or fact has arisen, or is likely to arise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he may refer the question to that Court for consideration and the Court may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon.The President may, notwithstanding anything in the proviso to Article 131, refer a dispute of the kind mentioned in the said proviso to the Supreme Court for opinion and the Supreme Court shall, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon.
And according to the Supreme Court’s Handbook on procedure the chief justice of India has the authority to form the Constitution Bench on time to time and the bench must of five or more judges.


Which type of cases are referred to it
The Cases which are referred to the Constitution Bench are those which has substantial question of law it is the need of the time to have a larger bench which can decide major cases particularly those cases which has a direct bearing on individuals. The poly-vocal character of the Indian courts creates ambiguity and result in a periodic requirement for review.
The idea behind the constitution bench is very clear that it is constituted in rare cases to decide important questions of fact or legal and constitutional interpretation.

For example cases like:

  • State of U.P. vs jai bir singh(2017)
  • AK gopalan vs State of Madras
  • Keshwanand bharti vs State of Kerala
  • Ayodhya land dispute
  • Sabrimala temple review

Some recent cases are:

  • Krishna kumar singh vs State of Bihar(2017)
  • Jarnail singh vs Lachhmi narayan(2018)
  • State(NCT of Delhi) vs Union of India(2018)
  • Kalpana mehta vs Union of India(2018)
  • CCE vs. Gramin Industries LTD(2018)
  • Public intrest foundation vs Union of India(2019)
  • T.N. medical officer assn. Vs Union of India(2018)
  • Navtej singh johar vs Union of India(2018)

Conclusion

The constitution bench can only be formed in certain situations like when the case involves a substantial question of law pertaining to the interpretation of the constitution or when the president has sought the SC opinion on a question of fact or law under article 143 of the constitution or when 2-3 judges benches of Supreme Court have delivered conflicting judgement on the same point of law so this becomes necessary to give a definite interpretation of the law by a larger bench. And this is duty of the CJI to maintain the constitution bench and form the Constitution bench on time to time so that the conflicted decisions can be interpreted in a exact and right manner.

Reference

https://www.indialegallive.com/is-that-legal-news/what-is-a-constitution-bench-82551

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.barandbench.com/amp/story/columns%252Fconstituting-constitution-benches-of-the-supreme-court-an-analysis

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.indiatoday.in/amp/fyi/story/constitution-bench-meaning-1426992-2019-01-09

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.timesofindia.com/india/sc-to-get-permanent-constitution-bench/amp_articleshow/71227111.cms

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/210155/

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/244297/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/citizenship-amendment-bill-decoded-what-it-holds-for-india/amp_articleshow/72466056.cms