Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna has introduced a new roster system for the allocation of cases across 16 benches in the Supreme Court, with significant changes in how public interest litigations (PILs) and letter petitions are handled. Effective from November 11, this restructuring marks a shift from previous practices under former Chief Justices.
Under the new arrangement, the first three courts, led by Chief Justice Khanna himself and the two senior-most judges, Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, will exclusively hear letter petitions and new PILs. This decision centralizes the handling of such cases, which often involve significant public interest issues, in the hands of the most senior members of the judiciary.
The CJI-led bench will address a broad spectrum of issues, including those related to social justice, elections involving key political figures like the President and Vice President, as well as other electoral disputes concerning MPs and MLAs. This bench will also deal with habeas corpus petitions and arbitration matters.
Justice Surya Kant’s bench will handle election-related pleas among other responsibilities. This reallocation aims to streamline the process and enhance the efficiency of judicial proceedings in handling complex cases.
Justice JB Pardiwala, who previously shared the bench with former CJI Chandrachud, will now focus on direct and indirect tax matters, along with ordinary civil cases. This adjustment reflects a tailored approach to leveraging the specific legal expertise of individual justices.
The restructured roster includes other prominent justices such as Hrishikesh Roy, AS Oka, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, BV Nagarathna, CT Ravikumar, MM Sundresh, Bela M Trivedi, PS Narasimham, Sudhanshu Dhulia, Dipankar Datta, and Pankaj Mithal. Each will preside over various legal domains, ensuring a balanced distribution of caseloads among the court’s senior judges.
