Supreme Court Weekly Round Up [December 15-21, 2025]

1. [Banke Bihari temple] Supreme Court has issued notice on a petition filed by the Management Committee of Thakur Shree Bankey Bihari Ji Maharaj Temple raising certain issues pertaining to the working of the temple. Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Temple's management committee told a CJI Surya Kant led bench that there were certain issues on which the court's intervention was required.
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2. [Justice GR Swaminathan] A plea has been filed before Supreme Court seeking legal and police actions including registration of FIR against individual, advocates and other social political party, association or body made hate speech, scandalize remarks, defamatory campaigns, threats to the judges and conducting illegal unlawful demonstration protest or agitation in public places and in front of the Madras/Madurai High Court & other District Courts premises, and direct them to submit status report and enforce protections for judicial independence.
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3. [Rohingya] The Supreme Court granted the Union government two weeks to file its affidavit in a habeas corpus petition alleging the custodial disappearance of Rohingya persons. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by activist Rita Manchanda, which raises concerns over the alleged disappearance of Rohingya individuals while in custody.
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4. [Gangster Trials] The Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the growing problem of jurisdictional conflicts in grave criminal cases where organised offenders operate across State boundaries, particularly in the National Capital Region, and flagged the need for effective legal mechanisms to prevent hardened criminals from exploiting such gaps. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that in serious offences under Central penal laws, organised criminals often take undue advantage of jurisdictional complexities.
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5. [Intersex Persons] The Supreme Court directed that a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a legislative framework to regulate medical interventions on intersex infants and children be placed before a three-judge bench. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, while hearing the PIL, observed, “A good issue is raised. We’ll refer it to a 3-Judge Bench. Post the matter accordingly.”
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6. [Justice Yashwant Varma] The Supreme Court issued notice to the Lok Sabha on a writ petition filed by Justice Yashwant Varma, a sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court, challenging the constitution of a Parliamentary inquiry committee set up to investigate corruption charges against him. The Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A.G. Masih has listed the matter for hearing on January 7, 2026.
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7. [Dowry Law] The Supreme Court on December 15, 2025 held that eliminating the practice of dowry is not merely a matter of enforcing the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, but a constitutional imperative rooted in the guarantees of equality, dignity, and liberty under the Constitution. The Court said the persistence of dowry undermines the Republic’s promise that women enter marriage as equal citizens and not as bearers of financial burden. A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh made these observations while allowing an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government against a judgment of the Allahabad High Court, which had acquitted a husband and his mother in a dowry death case.
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8. [Mahesh Langa] The Supreme Court on December 15, 2025 granted interim bail to journalist Maheshdan Prabhudan Langa in a money laundering case, even as the Enforcement Directorate strongly opposed any relief and flagged serious allegations of extortion and financial fraud against him. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi, passed the interim order while hearing Langa’s special leave petition challenging the Gujarat High Court’s refusal to grant him bail.
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9. [Digital Arrest Scams] The Supreme Court flagged the urgent need for coordinated institutional safeguards to curb the rising menace of “digital arrest” scams, stressing immediate preventive mechanisms and victim-centric recovery frameworks. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi objected to the growing number of intervention applications in the matter, cautioning against procedural clutter.
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10. [Medically Discharged Cadets] The Supreme Court granted the Union Government six weeks to complete the process of considering recommendations for the rehabilitation of officer cadets discharged from military training after suffering disabilities. The Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan adjourned the suo motu proceedings to January 28, expressing the expectation that by then sufficient progress would be made in approving the recommendations submitted by the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.
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11. [DHFL Fraud case] The Supreme Court has granted bail to Kapil Wadhawan, Managing Director of M/s. Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) and his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan in connection with a case relating to amount of Rs. 34,926 crores being siphoned off by making shell companies. CBI had investigated the matter and filed supplementary chargesheet arraying 40 individual accused persons and 70 companies, totaling to 110 accused, coupled with 736 witnesses to be examined. Court was further told that the chargesheet runs into almost four lakh pages and there are 17 trunks of documents which are not part of the chargesheet and not relied upon. In addition, in digital form and in hard disks, data runs into more than 2 TB.
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12. [CJI Gavai Shoe Hurling Incident] Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court that they would jointly submit suggestions to prevent a repeat of the recent shoe-hurling incident involving former Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and to ensure responsible handling of its publicity. Notably, on October 6 incident, Advocate Rakesh Kishore allegedly attempted to hurl a shoe at Chief Justice of India BR Gavai in open court.
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13. [RG Kar] The Supreme Court transferred the suo motu proceedings relating to the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Hospital to the Calcutta High Court, directing it to monitor the implementation of the orders passed in the case. The Bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma held that the High Court was best placed to oversee compliance with directions already issued, given its proximity to the facts, authorities, and ongoing developments linked to the case.
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14. [Clinical Establishments] The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging a Kerala High Court verdict that issued a bunch of guidelines, relating to clinical establishments including displaying list of the services offered. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice in a petition filed by the Kerala Private Hospitals Association challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2018 and the Rules framed under it.
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15. [WB VC Appointments] The Supreme Court deferred to January 2026 the hearing on a plea concerning the appointment of regular vice-chancellors in state-aided universities in West Bengal, after being informed that “good progress” has been made in resolving the issue. The Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of submissions made by Attorney General of India R. Venkataramani, appearing for the office of West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, that developments in the matter were moving in a positive direction.
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16. [Air Pollution] The Supreme Court took up the worsening air pollution crisis in Delhi-NCR, signalling that ad-hoc, short-term measures such as blanket school closures and construction bans cannot substitute a coordinated long-term policy response. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi and heard multiple applications touching upon school closures, the impact on poor children, livelihood issues of construction workers, and the role of toll plazas in aggravating congestion and pollution.
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