CURRENT AFFAIRS

Women's participation at the higher levels of the judiciary in India remains extremely limited. According to the India Justice Report 2025, only 14% of judges in the High Courts and a mere 3.1% in the Supreme Court are women. This situation highlights the serious lack of gender equality in the justice system.

According to a significant Supreme Court ruling, the age limit under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, will not apply to couples who began their fertility process before the law came into force. This ruling is particularly significant for couples who froze their embryos and initiated surrogacy before 2022.

The President of India recently appreciated the Siddi tribal community, which falls under the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), for achieving a literacy rate of over 72%.

A series of recent fatal industrial accidents in India have raised serious concerns about the weakening of worker safety standards and rights. These incidents have occurred, particularly in the context of changes made in the new labor codes, which have weakened labor protection measures.

Hearing petitions challenging anti-conversion laws enacted by several states, the Supreme Court has raised the question of who has the authority to determine whether a conversion is fraudulent.

The Supreme Court, in Shivangi Bansal vs. Sahib Bansal, upheld the guidelines given by the Allahabad High Court in Mukesh Bansal vs. State of Uttar Pradesh (2022) to prevent the misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (now Section 85 of the Indian Penal Code).

Recently, Aland constituency case in Karnataka has brought attention nationwide. Voter deletion were seen which specifically means to the removal of names from the electoral rolls.

The Five-judge constitution bench of Supreme Court headed by the CJI B R Gavai, reserved its opinion in the matter of powers of the President and Governors in giving assent to Bills passed by the State assemblies.

As the highest judicial institution of the country, the Supreme Court has the responsibility to provide timely justice to the citizens, but in recent years the number of pending cases in the court has reached record levels. This problem not only puts a question mark on the speed of the justice system but also affects the right of citizens to get justice.

Recently, the Supreme Court highlighted serious concerns regarding tribunals during the hearing of a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.