Sun Nov 30 16:22:22 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary and news article based on the provided text:
Summary:
Supreme Court Justice B.V. Nagarathna, speaking at an event, cautioned against the trend of overturning judgments simply because the judges who authored them have retired. She emphasized that judgments should be respected and challenged through established legal processes, not discarded due to personnel changes within the court. Her views align with recent observations by a Supreme Court bench regarding this growing trend. Justice Nagarathna also highlighted the importance of judicial independence, both in practice and perception, and emphasized that a judge’s personal conduct plays a crucial role in maintaining it.
News Article:
Supreme Court Justice Warns Against Overruling Judgments Based on Personnel Changes
NEW DELHI – November 30, 2025 – Supreme Court Justice B.V. Nagarathna has voiced concerns about a growing trend of overturning judgments based on the retirement of the presiding judges. Speaking at an international convention on judicial independence at O.P. Jindal Global University, Justice Nagarathna stressed that judgments should be respected and challenged through established legal avenues, not discarded simply because “faces have changed” on the bench.
Her remarks come in the wake of recent instances, including the overturning of the Vanashakti judgment, where environmental clearances were handled with ex post facto practices, highlighting this issue. Justice Nagarathna’s statements echo recent observations made by a Supreme Court bench led by Justice Dipankar Datta, who noted a similar “growing trend” within the court.
Justice Nagarathna emphasized that judicial independence requires judgments to be “anchored in time” and challenged through proper legal channels. She further underscored the importance of political insularity and individual conduct for judges, stating that judicial independence “is ultimately conviction, courage, and independence of individual judges.”
She concluded by reminding the audience that the perception of judicial independence is just as important as the actual practice of it: “The conduct of a judge has to be more than merely lawful. Independence of judicial thought and conduct must not only exist but must also be perceived by the public to be beyond suspicion,”
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