Supreme Court Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman retires: A look at his landmark judgements

Concluding a distinguished 7-year career as a judge of Supreme Court, Apex court's second in seniority, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, retired on August 12. Bidding farewell to him, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, at an event to mark occasion, said that he felt like he was losing 'one of lions that guarded judicial institution and one of strong pillars of contemporary judicial system'. CJI deemed Justice Nariman as a man of principles who could never mince words. 

Although practice of seniority-based appointments among judges meant that Nariman could t attain apex designation of CJI, legal doyen has had a striking and ground-breaking career, to say least. Rohinton Fali Nariman leaves behind an array of landmark judgements and a rich legacy in his own right. 

Rohinton Fali Nariman retires as Supreme Court judge 

Justice Nariman was appointed as Solicitor General of India on July 23, 2011, and elevated as an SC judge on July 7, 2014. Nariman belongs to a select company as he was only fourth senior counsel to be elevated from bar to bench. He is son of ted judge Fali Nariman and a postgraduate from Harvard Law School. At young of 37, in December 1993 he was designated as a senior counsel after n CJI Venkatachaliah had to amend court's rules in this regard. 

In his 7-year tenure as Supreme Court Justice, he has disposed of over 13,500 cases and delivered historic verdicts. trove of remarkable judgements by legal laureate includes  end of a colonial-era Section 377 law that deemed homosexuality a crime, declaration of privacy as a fundamental right and permitting females of all s to enter Kerala's Sabarimala temple. 

As an erudite constitutionalist throughout his career, his contribution in interpretation of law via unprecedented verdicts will be etched in country's legal history with evolving jurisprudence and democracy.

Here's a rewind of impactful judgements by Rohinton Fali Nariman

1. Shreya Singhal Case (abolishing 66A of IT Act)

His earliest judgement that cemented his reputation as a jurist was this case in 2015. A Division Bench comprising Justice Nariman and Justice Chelameswar struck down Section 66A of IT Act, which empowered police to arrest a person for charges of publishing and posting 'offensive materials' on social networking sites, in view of section being unconstitutional on grounds of violating freedom of speech as guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution. order stated that said section threatened right of people to question and defend mselves. 

2. Shayara Ba vs Union of India (triple talaq abolished)

In a monumental judgement, SC Bench comprising Justice Nariman made century-old practice of triple talaq or Talaq-e-biddat unconstitutional in 2017. He had held that equality must outweigh religious freedom and practice is arbitrary as it empowered Muslim husbands to sever conjugal ties under unruly impulses and conferred room for reconciliation. 

3. Aadhaar Card case (Right to Privacy a Fundamental Right)

Amounting to ar historic judgement of evolving times, in 2017, Supreme Court unanimously ruled that right to privacy was a fundamental right under Constitution. Nariman was part of nine-judge Bench of top court to have passed verdict which said that privacy is intrinsic to freedom. 

4. Adultery de-criminalised

Considered as a remnant of a 158-year-old Victorian law, Section 497 of Indian Penal Code classified adultery as a punishable offence for men. He struck down provisions saying it was unconstitutional and fell short of Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) and Article 14 (Right to Equality). order stated that it dented individuality of women. 

5. Homosexuality de-criminalised

In a major relief to LGBTQ community, a five-judge Bench including Justice Nariman lifted a colonial-era ban on gay sex by decriminalising consensual sexual conduct between adults of same sex and repealing Section 377. 

6. Lifting RBI's cryptocurrency ban

In 2020, a three-judge Bench of SC led by Justice Nariman lifted ban imposed by Reserve Bank of India on virtual currency trading and cryptocurrencies. 

7. Sabarimala Temple entry 

In 2018, a Bench that included Justice Nariman terminated a long-time prohibition on entries by females into historic Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. Claiming that existing ban on women of certain groups violated ir Fundamental Right of Freedom of Religion as Article 25 of Constitution, his order allowed entry of women irrespective of .

8. Cases against MPs and MLAs

In his bid to clean up elections, Justice Nariman directed political parties in 2020 to make public details of criminal cases against its candidates. On August 10, 2021, a Bench headed by him fined nine political parties for t following orders and being guilty of contempt. 

9. CCTVs at Central ncies & offices

Protecting human rights, a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Nariman directed installation of CCTV in offices of central ncies such as CBI, NIA and in all police stations to keep a check on custodial deaths. 

August 12 was last working day of Justice Nariman as a judge of SC and as is customary, he shared bench with CJI in courtroom 1. CJI Ramana said that retirement of people like Justice Nariman who are repositories of legal acumen makes one wonder if is appropriate criterion to decide tenure of retirement.