Looking at 2025, Law: Key Questions Of Religion, Society, Law

Relevance: GS 2 – Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Why in the news?

  • The year 2024 marked a notable departure from what was perceived as ‘judicial evasion’.
  • Under the leadership of three Chief Justices of India, the Court will address several critical issues. These issues are expected to influence:
  • Personal lives and individual freedoms.
  • Religious beliefs and practices.
  • Citizen-state relationships and interactions with the law.

LOOKING AT 2025, LAW: KEY QUESTIONS OF RELIGION, SOCIETY, LAW

Political Battles and Judicial Shifts in 2024

Departure from the Trend in 2024

The Court broke away from this pattern with significant interventions:

  • Declared the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional.
  • Barred trial courts from taking up mandir-masjid disputes.
  • Issued guidelines to curb illegal bulldozer demolitions.
  • Granted bail to opposition leaders facing long incarceration.
  • Restricted the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED’s) arrest powers.
  • Overturned the Gujarat government’s remission for Bilkis Bano gangrape convicts.

Criticism of Judicial Evasion

  • The Supreme Court faced criticism for Alleged “judicial evasion” in handling key cases.
  • Perceived tendency to favor the executive, especially under strong majority governments.
  • Exceptions occurred only when the judiciary’s independence was at stake.

Constitution Bench Initiatives

  • Efforts to address long-pending cases included: Aligarh Muslim University’s ‘minority institution’ status. And Policy on taxing industrial alcohol.

Efforts to Counter Criticism

  • This shift began under former Chief Justice U U Lalit during his 45-day tenure in 2022.
  • Carried forward by CJI D Y Chandrachud (2022–2024) and CJI Sanjiv Khanna in late 2024.

Key Interventions by CJI Sanjiv Khanna

  • Addressed sensitive mandir-masjid disputes: Took up issues emerging over the past two years.
  • Following violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, a Bench led by him:
  • Prohibited fresh challenges to ownership or title of places of worship in district courts.
  • Barred surveys of disputed religious sites.

CJI Transitions:

  • CJI Sanjiv Khanna will retire on May 13, 2025.
  • Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai will succeed him for 194 days.
  • Justice Surya Kant will take over in November 2025, serving as CJI until February 2027.

Implications of Short Tenures:

  • Frequent changes in Collegium composition affect judicial appointment recommendations.
  • Short tenures may hinder CJIs’ ability to address long-term institutional issues, such as: Reducing case pendency. And Implementing broader judicial reforms.

Legacy of CJI Chandrachud’s Long Tenure

  • Digital Transformation: Significant improvements in the court’s digital infrastructure.
  • Virtual court proceedings are now a norm, extending to many High Courts.
  • Impact on Judiciary: Increased public scrutiny of judicial conduct and decisions is expected in the coming years.
  • Courts must adapt to these heightened transparency demands.

Religious Issues Before the Supreme Court in 2025

Places of Worship Act (1991)

Pending Constitutional Challenge:

  • The Act freezes the religious character of all places of worship as of August 15, 1947, except for the Ayodhya dispute.
  • The law prohibits judicial review of pre-existing claims and bars new claims.

Arguments Against the Act:

  • Allegedly restricts judicial review by abating old claims.
  • Considered arbitrary for retrospectively selecting 1947 as the cut-off date.

Arguments in Favor:

  • Upholds secularism and non-retrogression, key principles of the basic structure doctrine.
  • Aims to prevent communal discord by maintaining the status quo.

Broader Implications:

  • Continued disputes over the title and religious character of mosques allegedly built over Hindu temples will dominate the legal landscape.

Hijab Ban

Split Verdict (2023):

  • Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia: Quashed the Karnataka government’s hijab ban, emphasizing personal choice and liberty.
  • Justice Hemant Gupta: Upheld the ban, ruling that wearing a headscarf is not an essential religious practice protected by law.

Future Hearings:

  • A three-judge Bench will reconsider the case, addressing issues of personal liberty, religious expression, and institutional rules.

Essential Religious Practice (ERP) Test

  • Originated as a judicial standard to determine whether a practice is integral to a religion.
  • Applied in landmark cases, including the Sabarimala temple entry dispute.

Review by a Larger Bench:

  • Revisiting the 2018 Sabarimala judgment, which declared the exclusion of women unconstitutional.
  • Expanding the review to address the judicial approach to evaluating religious practices.

Impact on Other Cases:

  • Entry rights of two Parsi women married outside the community into religious spaces, including the Tower of Silence.
  • Petition for Muslim women’s entry into mosques.

Potential Outcomes

  • The Court’s decisions will redefine the balance between secularism, judicial intervention in religion, and personal liberties in India.
  • Key rulings could set precedents affecting communal harmony and constitutional interpretation of religious rights.

Issues Before the Supreme Court in 2025: State, Individual, and Society

Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019

Overview:

  • Grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
  • Excludes Muslim migrants, raising concerns over equality and secularism.

Challenges:

  • Alleged violation of the right to equal protection under Article 14 of the Constitution.
  • Claimed to undermine the principle of secularism in India.

Key Considerations:

  • SC’s October ruling on the Assam Accord upheld Parliament’s power to set a cut-off date, but emphasized fraternity and plurality as core values in citizenship matters.

Marital Rape Exception

Legal Context:

  • Under Section 63(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (previously Section 375 of IPC), marital rape is exempted unless the wife is under 18.
  • This allows non-consensual sex within marriage to be excluded from the definition of rape.

Pending Challenge:

  • Critics argue the exemption legitimizes spousal sexual violence and violates personal autonomy and dignity.
  • The Centre contends that while spousal non-consent is wrong, labeling it as “rape” is disproportionately harsh.

Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Powers

Backdrop:

  • The SC upheld the ED’s powers in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v Union of India (2022) but has since introduced procedural safeguards: Grounds for arrest must be provided in writing and Relaxation of the twin conditions for bail for prolonged incarceration.

Recent Developments:

  • The SC raised concerns over the ED’s extensive powers while granting bail in the Delhi excise policy case.
  • A larger Bench will re-examine when arrests are legally necessary.

Pending Review:

  • The Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment itself is under review, with the potential to limit the ED’s powers and reinforce accountability.

Implications for 2025

Decisions on these issues will impact:

  • Individual rights: Equality, personal liberty, and autonomy.
  • State powers: The scope of enforcement agencies and legislative authority.
  • Societal values: Secularism, fraternity, and evolving gender norms.

Important New Legislation

One Nation, One Election

  • Objective: Simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha, state, and Union Territory Assemblies.
  • Significance:
    • Aims to reduce election-related costs and disruptions.
    • Potentially reshapes India’s electoral landscape.

Sub-classification of Scheduled Caste Quotas

  • Background: SC’s seven-judge Bench ruling (August 2024) allows states to sub-classify SC/ST quotas in public jobs.

Implications:

  • Some castes within the SC/ST category may receive greater protection via sub-quotas.
  • Marks a pivotal reframing of affirmative action since the Constitution’s inception in 1950.
  • Raises political and legal questions on equality and affirmative action.

Challenges to Existing Laws

New Criminal Laws

  • Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 replaces IPC, 1860.
  • Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 replaces CrPC, 1973.
  • Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaces Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Progressive Provisions:

  • Community service as punishment.
  • Mandatory summary trials for petty offences.
  • Trials via video-conference for efficiency.
  • Special provisions for mob lynching and child marital rape.

Contentious Issues:

  • Sedition Law: Rebranded from “rajdroh” to “deshdroh.”
  • FIR Registration: Police allowed 14 days for preliminary investigation.
  • Section 377: Total exclusion affects protections for men and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
  • Extended Detention: Period increased to up to 90 days without trial.
  • Judicial Scrutiny: SC will review contentious aspects and address adaptation challenges.

Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

  • Current Status: Uttarakhand UCC to be implemented from January 2025; other BJP-ruled states to follow.

Provisions:

  • Compulsory registration for starting/ending live-in relationships (heterosexual couples).
  • Maintenance for deserted women.
  • Jail term for failing to produce a “relationship certificate.”

Constitutional Context:

  • UCC is a Directive Principle of State Policy, but its implementation raises concerns about:
    • State interference in personal lives.
    • Potential conflicts with the right to religious freedom and personal choice.

Associate article

https://universalinstitutions.com/one-nation-one-election-2/

https://universalinstitutions.com/one-nation-one-election/

Source:https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-law/looking-at-2025-law-key-questions-of-religion-society-law-9744396/

Mains question

Discuss the constitutional and societal implications of proposed legislative reforms such as ‘One Nation, One Election,’ and the Uniform Civil Code in contemporary India. (250 words)