The Hindu newspaper yesterday successfully persuaded the SC to change its mind for the second time in the same case.

6 October is likely to be the climax in the ongoing Cauvery hearing in the Supreme Court, if one were to interpret today’s outcome in Court No 4 in the afternoon.

A Supreme Court bench of justices JS Khehar and Dipak Misra today disposed of three writ petitions challenging President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh, which was imposed on 26 January, as infructuous.

So, how did today’s much expected hearing on the Cauvery case go in the Supreme Court?

After three hours of an intense hearing from 2pm today, the Supreme Court bench of justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit, in an interim order, directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu until 27 September.

The Hindu newspaper yesterday successfully persuaded the Supreme Court bench comprising of justices JS Khehar and Arun Mishra to change its mind in an ongoing litigation over a breach of privilege notice issued to its editor, Mukund Padmanabhan, by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

Even amongst epic legal dramas, the Cauvery river water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has taken more twists and turns than most, with the Supreme Court’s latest orders asking Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, provoking violent protests in Karnataka and the imposition of a curfew turning Bangalore it into a ghost town.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that all first information reports (FIRs) involving cognizable offences must be uploaded on state police web sites within 24 hours of their registration.

On 31 August, a two-judge Supreme Court bench comprising justices Gopal Gowda andArun Mishra delivered two separate judgments on the Singur land dispute, with split reasoning, but reached similar results.

Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the fifth-most senior judge of the Supreme Court, and a member of the SC’s collegium, made the news today with the New Indian Express publishing his refusal to participate in a Supreme Court collegium meeting, as a protest against the collegium’s failure to comply with the principle of transparency of its proceedings.

In a clear message to senior lawyers that they could not take liberty with the court by making a last minute request for pass-over or adjournment of a matter listed for hearing, a Supreme Court bench on Tuesday withdrew from hearing the matters for an hour after in four of the first five matters, as junior lawyers sought pass-overs repeatedly.

The Supreme Court will hear on 29 August a plea contending that the top court appointed oversight committee headed by former Chief Justice RM Lodha was going beyond its mandate of monitoring the work of Medical Council of India (MCI).

The Supreme Court today said that criticism of public policy could not be a ground for slapping defamation suit as it issued fresh notice to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on a plea alleging abuse of power by her.

On 17 August, before it broke for a long weekend of four days, a three-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi, Prafulla Chandra Pant and AM Khanwilkar referred a challenge to its immunity from the Right to Information (RTI) Act to a five-judge constitution bench. The decision, made after a brief hearing, was a surprise as well as a disappointment.

A five-judge Constitution bench will decide whether the Supreme Court is exempted from disclosing information including file noting and correspondence on the appointment of judges to higher judiciary and other information under the Right to Information Act (RTI).

On 26 November, 2005, the Gujarat police killed Sohrabuddin Sheikh, while he was in police custody. The police claimed he was involved in alleged criminal extortion racket, arms smuggling, and murder cases. Thereafter, Sheikh’s wife, Kauser Bi disappeared. A year later, Sheikh’s associate, Tulsiram Prajapati, a witness to Sheikh’s killing, was killed in another encounter with the state police.