A day before he demits office, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will on Thursday take up a string of important cases, including the challenge to the remission granted to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case.
The Pegasus snooping row petition, and the review of the controversial July 27 verdict on the powers of the Enforcement Directorate.
Sitting in five different combinations, the outgoing CJI is expected to take a call on immediate course of actions in these cases while leaving for future benches the final orders.
On Tuesday, CJI Ramana agreed to consider urgently hearing a petition demanding the immediate re-arrest of 11 convicts, who were sentenced in 2008 to a life term for the raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven members of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The 11 walked out of jail last week after the Gujarat government cleared their early release under the state’s 1992 remission policy.
In the Pegasus case, the court is expected to decide on the next steps after the report of a committee appointed by the court was submitted in July. The panel was expected to look into whether the spyware was used on Indian citizens, among other related matters.
A CJI-led bench will also take up a report by an independent committee headed by a retired judge of the top court, Justice Indu Malhotra, which was set up to investigate and fix responsibility on those responsible for the breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security in Punjab in January.