Chambers of Ishaan Garg
Ch. No. 217, Western Wing, District & Sessions Court, Tis Hazari, New Delhi, Delhi 110054
+91 8851742417, +91 8800386163
—By Justice Deepak Gupta
"According to him the development of F.R. jurisprudence was antithesis which is the best of times and the worst of times"
1. Lillu V State of Haryana 2013
(Judgment that abolished the Two finger Test)
The Court in this case held that the Two-Finger test has no scientific backing and is based on the archaic concept of a hymen determining whether a woman is a virgin or not. The Court said that the test “violates the right of rape survivors to privacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity.” (Article 21)
Recent case - DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli in State of Jharkhand vs Shailendra Kumar Rai @ Pandav Rai 2022
2. People’s Union For Civil Liberties Vs. Union Of India, 2013
Whether a citizen has the right to say they don't want to vote for anyone by casting a NOTA vote. The Court in this case said that even though the right to vote was a statutory right, a citizen also has a constitutional right to not vote for anyone. "According to me this is an important judgement, because in a democracy like ours, it emphasizes the role of the voter. The citizens decide how democracy is run."
3. NALSA v. UOI, 2014
People who were marginalized and who were not even treated as human beings, were given the dignity to identify themselves as a third gender.
No third gender person could be subjected to a medical examination that would invade their right to privacy. The court held that the right to dignity, includes the right to self expression even in matters of sexual orientation."
4. Shreya Singhal v UOI, 2015
(Section 66A Of It Act Unconstitutional)
Justice Nariman divided freedom of speech and expression into three-
1) Discussion
2) Advocacy and
3) Incitement,
"The right of free speech cannot be curtailed at the stage of discussion or advocacy. It is only when incitement takes place, that the state can step in."
5. S.C. A.O.R. Association v. UOI 2016 (4th Judge Case that struck down NJAC the 99th C.A.A.)
Independence of judiciary is of paramount importance for constitutional democracy, where the rights of every individual is protected.
6. Anita Thakur Vs. Government of J&K(2016)
"Right to dissent and right to protest is inherent part of F.R. But this right could not be exercised in a manner that it affected the rights of another citizen, who wanted to go about his normal life"
7. Shayara Bano vs. UOI 2017
(3:2 tripple talaq as unconstitutional.
Article 14, 21, 25)
This is important in the context of how far should courts go in the matter of religion. In most countries courts don't enter the domain of religion. However, in India we have been doing so. The question that arises is when there is a conflict between Fundamental Rights and religious practices, can the courts intervene?"
8. Justice K.S.Puttaswamy vs Union Of India (2017) (Unanimously reaffirmed the right to privacy as a fundamental right)
9. Independent Thought v. UOI, 2017 (Court read down exception 2 to Section 375 insofar as it permitted a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife below the age of 18 years of age)
Does the court have the right to create an offence?
The offence was there in the main section, so court has not created a new offence. Court has set aside the exception and not created an offence. In that sense, a landmark judgment on how the interpretation of the court can make something an offence."
10. Common Cause v UOI, 2017
(Right to die with dignity & passive euthanasia)
This showed that the court even in the absence of the legislation can move ahead with the times.
