Lok Sabha Question No. 121 (STARRED), answered on 2023-07-28
Subject: Cases Pending before Constitutional Benches of Supreme Court
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Abdul Majeed Ariff

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *121 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 28 TH  JULY, 2023

## CASES PENDING BEFORE CONSTITUTIONAL BENCHES OF SUPREME COURT

*121. ADV. A.M. ARIFF:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the Government has taken note of the fact that several cases having serious  consequences    for  the  legal  system  of  the  country  are  pending  before various Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court for a long time;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the name of cases, type of Constitution Bench and period of pendency;
- (c) whether it is true that the reason for pendency of the above mentioned cases is the  lack  of  interest  in  expediting  the  same,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the corrective action likely to be taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (d)  the  list  of  cases  heard  and  disposed  of  by  the  Constitutional  Benches  of  the Supreme Court since its inception till date, decade-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

- (a) to (d):

- A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (D)  OF  LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *121  FOR  ANSWER  ON  28.07.2023 REGARDING 'CASES PENDING BEFORE CONSTITUTIONAL BENCHES OF SUPREME COURT'.

(a) & (b): The adjudication and disposal of cases is within the exclusive domain of the judiciary.  The  Central  Government  has  no  role  in  the  said  matter. However,  as  per information obtained from Supreme Court of India, as on 20.07.2023, there were 29 main cases  pending  for  adjudication  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  form  of  Constitution Bench cases. Out of these 29 cases, 18 cases are pending before 5-Judge Bench, 6 cases pending before 7-Judge Bench  and 5 cases pending before 9-Judge Bench for adjudication. The detailed statement of the aforementioned cases are at ANNEXURE-I .

(c): No, Sir, it cannot be said that the reason for pendency of the Constitution Bench cases is the lack of interest in expediting the same. As per information obtained from the Supreme Court, in respect of the Constitution Bench cases there are intricate issues of law involved and arguments are addressed for number of days ranging from weeks to months.  The  said  issues  require  deep  analysis  and  thorough  examination  of  law. Therefore,  it  is  not  possible  to  set  out  strict  parameters  and  timelines  regarding adjudication of such cases.

As  far  as  corrective  action  in  this  regard  is  concerned,  the  adjudication  and expeditious  disposal  of  cases  is  within  the  exclusive  domain  of  the  judiciary  and Government has no role in the matter.

(d): As per information obtained from the Supreme Court, the detailed list of cases heard and disposed of by the Constitution Benches of Supreme Court since its inception till date, decade-wise from year(s) 1950 to 2023 is at ANNEXURE-II .

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## Annexure-I

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) AND (B) OF LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *121  FOR  ANSWER  ON  28.07.2023 REGARDING 'CASES PENDING BEFORE CONSTITUTIONAL BENCHES OF SUPREME COURT'.

| S.No.                                          | Case No. &Year of Institution/Pending since             | Cause Title                                                                                                            | No. of connected matters                       |
|------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| LIST OF PENDING 5-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS | LIST OF PENDING 5-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS          | LIST OF PENDING 5-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS                                                                         | LIST OF PENDING 5-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS |
| 1                                              | C.A. No. 841/2018 ETC.                                  | M/S. Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Co.Ltd. Vs.Rambha Devi And Ors                                                   | (+75)                                          |
| 2                                              | C.A. No. 9486- 9487/2019                                | Central Organisation For Railway Electrification Vs.M/S ECI SPIC SMO MCML(JV) A Joint Venture Company                  | (+3)                                           |
| 3                                              | W.P. ©NO. 1099/2019 MAIN W.P. ©NO. 1013/2019            | In Re Article 370 Of The Constitution Vs. ----                                                                         | (+22)                                          |
| 4                                              | W.P. ©NO. 887/2021                                      | Government Of NCT Of Delhi Vs.Union Of India And Anr                                                                   |                                                |
| 5                                              | W.P. ©NO. 546/2000                                      | Ashok Kumar Jain Vs. U.O.I                                                                                             | (+9)                                           |
| 6                                              | W.P. ©NO. 562/2012 Main Matter is W.P. (C) NO. 274/2009 | Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha &Ors. Vs. Union Of India &Ors.                                                              | (+16)                                          |
| 7                                              | CRL.A. NO. 1003/2017                                    | Pyare Lal Vs. State Of Haryana                                                                                         |                                                |
| 8                                              | SMW(Crl) No. 1/2022                                     | In Re: Framing Guidelines Regarding Potential Mitigating Circumstances To Be Considered While Imposing Death Sentences |                                                |
| 9                                              | C.A. No. 7513/2005                                      | State Of A.P &Ors. Vs. B. Archana Reddy &Ors.                                                                          | (+18)                                          |
| 10                                             | CRL.A. No. 451/2019                                     | Sita Soren Vs. Union Of India                                                                                          |                                                |
| 11                                             | C.A. No. 9228/2022                                      | Hariharan And Ors Vs. Harsh Vardhan Singh Rao And Ors                                                                  | (+2)                                           |

| 12                                             | CRL. A NO. 375/2006                                             | Union Of India &Ors Vs. Preeti Aggarwal                                                    | (+6)                                           |
|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 13                                             | SLP(C) No. 2755/2008 etc. (Main matter is SLP(C) No. 3660/2008) | Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committ. Vs. Shail Mittal &Ors                              | (+5)                                           |
| 14                                             | W.P. (C) No. 36/2016                                            | V. Vasanthakumar Vs. H.C. Bhatia And Ors                                                   |                                                |
| 15                                             | W.P. (C) NO.222/2018 Main matter is W.P.(C) No. 202/2018        | Sameena Begum vs. Union of India& Ors.                                                     | (+9)                                           |
| 16                                             | SLP(C) No. 804/2017 ETC.                                        | Karmanya Singh Sareen and Anr. Vs. Union of India & Ors.                                   | (+3)                                           |
| 17                                             | C.A. no.16879/1996                                              | State of West Bengal& Ors. vs. Paschim Banga B.K. Samity &Ors.                             | (+23)                                          |
| 18                                             | C.A. No. 37/1992                                                | Abhiram Singh vs. C.S. Commachen (Dead) by LRs and Ors.                                    | (+1)                                           |
| LIST OF PENDING 7-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS | LIST OF PENDING 7-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS                  | LIST OF PENDING 7-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS                                             | LIST OF PENDING 7-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS |
| 1                                              | C.A. No. 8763/1994                                              | Arjun Flour Mills vs. State of Orissa &Ors.                                                | (+10)                                          |
| 2                                              | W.P. (Crl.) No. 206- 210/2003                                   | N. Ravi &Ors. vs. Speaker Legislative Assembly, Chennai &Ors.                              | (+1)                                           |
| 3                                              | C.A. No. 2286/2006                                              | Aligarh Muslim University through its Registrar Faizan Mustafa vs. Naresh Agarwal and Ors. | (+9)                                           |
| 4                                              | C.A. No. 2317/2011 ETC.                                         | State of Punjab &Ors. vs. Davinder Singh &Ors.                                             | (+21)                                          |
| 5                                              | C.A. No. 8588/2019 ETC.                                         | Rojer Mathew vs. South Indian Bank Ltd. And Ors.                                           | (+21)                                          |
| 6                                              | W.P. (C) No. 493/2022                                           | Subhash Desai vs. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra and Ors.                    | (+5)                                           |
| LIST OF PENDING 9-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS | LIST OF PENDING 9-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS                  | LIST OF PENDING 9-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS                                             | LIST OF PENDING 9-HON'BLE JUDGES BENCH MATTERS |
| 1                                              | C.A. No. 1012/2002                                              | Property Owners Association vs. State of Maharashtra                                       | (+15)                                          |
| 2                                              | C.A. No. 151/2007                                               | State of U.P. &Ors. vs. M/s. Lalta Prasad Vaish                                            | (+27)                                          |
| 3                                              | C.A. No. 4056-                                                  | Mineral Area Development                                                                   | (+81)                                          |

Source: - Supreme court of India

|    | 4064/1999                                         | Authority etc. vs. M/s. Steel Authority of India &Ors.                                                           |       |
|----|---------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------|
|  4 | C.A. No. 897/2002                                 | State of U.P. vs. Jai Bir Singh                                                                                  | (+46) |
|  5 | R.P. (C ) No. 3358/2018 in W.P. (C ) No. 373/2006 | Kantaru Rajeevaru vs. Indian Young Lawyers Association through its General Secretary Ms. Bhakti Pasrija and Ors. | (+66) |

Annexure-II STATEMENT REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (D)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *121 FOR ANSWER ON 28.07.2023 REGARDING 'CASES  PENDING  BEFORE  CONSTITUTIONAL  BENCHES  OF  SUPREME COURT'.

| S.no.   | Period    | No. of Constitution Bench matters disposed of   |
|---------|-----------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 1       | 1950-1959 | 440                                             |
| 2       | 1960-1969 | 956                                             |
| 3       | 1970-1979 | 292                                             |
| 4       | 1980-1989 | 110                                             |
| 5       | 1990-1999 | 157                                             |
| 6       | 2000-2009 | 138                                             |
| 7       | 2010-2019 | 71                                              |
| 8       | 2020-2023 | 19                                              |
|         | TOTAL     | 2,183                                           |

Source: - Supreme court of India