Key Supreme Court Judgments in 2023

S.No

Name of the Case

Judgement

1

Vivek Narayan Sharma v. Union of India

Upheld the decision taken by the Union Government to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denominations and held that it satisfies the test of proportionality.

2

Joseph Shine v Union of India

Armed forces can take action against their officers for adulterous acts.

Joseph Shine v Union of India, 2018 that decriminalised adultery does not prevent court martial proceedings initiated against members of the armed forces for adulterous conduct.

3

Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India

The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) will be appointed by the President on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the single largest party in opposition.

4

Subhash Desai versus Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra and Ors

Opened the doors for disqualification proceedings against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for defection from the Shiv Sena party, and held that the then-Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari “erred” in calling for a trust vote which triggered the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in mid-2022.

5

Animal Welfare Board v. Union Of India

Upheld the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Jallikattu) Rules of 2017, saying that the traditional bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ has been going on in Tamil Nadu for the last century.

6

Revanasiddappa v. Mallikarjun

A child born of a void or voidable marriage can inherit the parent’s share in a joint Hindu family property governed by the Mitakshara law.  However, such a child would not be entitled to rights in or to the property of any other person in the family.

7

X v. Union of India

Declined a married woman’s plea to medically terminate her 26-week pregnancy, and it opposed to order doctors to stop the heartbeat of the foetus when medical reports say she will give birth to a viable baby.

8

Supriyo v. Union of India

Non-heterosexual couples cannot claim an unqualified right to marry.

9

Temple of Healing v. Union of India

Issued directions to expedite adoption processes and directed States to conduct drives to identify adoptable children and establish adoption agencies.

10

Re Article 370 of the Constitution of India

Unanimously upheld the power of the President to abrogate Article 370 via an executive order in August 2019, leading to the reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into 2 Union Territories and denuding its special privileges under the Constitution.

11

Ritu Chhabaria v.Union of India

Central agencies cannot deny accused persons their right to default bail by filing multiple supplementary chargesheets and seeking renewed custody.

Later, the Supreme Court, in a rather unusual order, directed lower courts to decide pending default bail applications without relying on its own judgment.

Article 141 of the Constitution provides that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within India.

12

Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan

The Supreme Court can exercise its plenary power to do ‘complete justice’ under Article 142(1) of the Constitution to dissolve a marriage on the ground that it had broken down irretrievably.