LEGAL NEWS

Supreme Court’s ‘Judgments and Gender: Sensitivity and Compassion in Writing Judgments’ Report

• The Supreme Court of India released Judgments and Gender: Sensitivity and Compassion in Writing Judgments, prepared by a panel led by former Justice Aniruddha Bose, replacing the 2023 Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes.

• The report is based on an empirical analysis of 125 trial court judgments and focuses on eliminating patriarchal language, victim-blaming, insensitive reasoning and practices that may cause secondary victimisation.

• It recommends replacing the term “prosecutrix” with neutral terms such as “victim”, “survivor” or “complainant”, and discourages moralistic references to chastity, family honour, character or sexual history.

• Courts are advised to understand sexual offences primarily as violations of bodily autonomy, dignity and personal integrity, while adopting a trauma-informed approach to delayed reporting, minor inconsistencies and absence of physical injuries.

• The report promotes the SOGIESC framework—Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics—to ensure inclusive and respectful treatment of LGBTQIA+ persons.

• It calls for greater courtroom dignity for witnesses, including in-camera proceedings, identity protection, safe deposition facilities and protection from irrelevant, indecent or scandalous cross-examination under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.

• The Committee recommends mandatory judicial empathy and soft-skills training, pre-trial legal and psychological counselling, active judicial control over offensive questioning, and standardised gender-neutral terminology in judgments.

• The report seeks to make gender-sensitive justice practical rather than merely theoretical, addressing procedural delays, inadequate courtroom infrastructure, lack of awareness of welfare schemes and entrenched patriarchal attitudes while reinforcing constitutional values of equality, privacy, dignity and bodily autonomy under Article 21.

Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026

• The Lok Sabha passed the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, on 10 August 2026 during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

• The Bill proposes an independent National Tribunals Commission (NTC) to oversee the selection, performance and administration of national tribunals.

• The proposed Commission will be a five-member body headquartered in New Delhi, comprising a Chairperson, two judicial members and two technical members.

• The Chairperson must be a former Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court, aiming to strengthen judicial independence in tribunal administration.

• The Bill seeks to repeal the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, while preserving the jurisdiction of the respective parent Acts governing individual tribunals.

• The proposed Commission will oversee 16 administrative bodies, including the National Green Tribunal, Securities Appellate Tribunal, Armed Forces Tribunal and Central Administrative Tribunal.

• The estimated financial outlay is ₹27.14 crore, comprising ₹24.79 crore recurring expenditure and ₹2.35 crore one-time non-recurring expenditure.

• The Bill follows the Supreme Court’s 19 November 2025 ruling, which struck down key provisions of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, and seeks to strengthen independence, transparency and institutional administration of tribunals.

STATE NEWS

Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026

• The Lok Sabha passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, on 11 August 2026, proposing to change the State’s name from Kerala to Keralam in the First Schedule of the Constitution.

• The proposal originated from a resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on 24 June 2024, seeking the alteration of the State’s official name.

• The constitutional basis for the change is Article 3, which empowers Parliament to form new States and alter the area, boundaries or names of existing States.

• Under Article 3, the President must refer such a Bill to the concerned State Legislature for expressing its views before Parliament proceeds with the legislation.

• The Union Cabinet approved the proposal on 24 February 2026, initiating the constitutional process for changing Kerala’s name.

• The Kerala Legislative Assembly subsequently concurred with the draft Bill after the President referred the proposal to the State Legislature for its views.

• The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 10 August 2026 and was passed on 11 August 2026 by voice vote, with Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai moving it for final passage.

• The proposed name “Keralam” is the Malayalam form of Kerala’s name, and the amendment seeks to incorporate Keralam in the First Schedule, which contains the names of India’s States and Union Territories.

Census 2027 and Caste Enumeration

• Ladakh will be the first region in independent India to enumerate caste as part of the regular Census, with the exercise forming part of Census 2027.

• Ladakh and other snow-bound regions are being surveyed earlier because they are classified as “snow-bound non-synchronous areas”, where normal door-to-door enumeration during February is difficult.

• The Census of India is a periodic collection of demographic, economic and social data and is conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Census Act, 1948.

• Census 2027 will introduce Digital Layout Maps and geo-tagging of all buildings within each Houselisting Block (HLB), replacing the predominantly paper-based approach used in earlier censuses.

• Both phases—Houselisting and Housing Census and Population Enumeration—are scheduled to be completed between 1 April 2026 and 28 February 2027.

• The second phase will include caste enumeration, making Census 2027 the first regular Census after Independence to enumerate castes beyond Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

• The 1931 Census is regarded as the last comprehensive published caste census before Independence; after 1947, regular censuses continued to enumerate SCs and STs but not other caste groups.

• Although the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 collected caste-related data, it was not published in the same manner as a regular Census; Bihar conducted a separate caste-based survey in 2023, making Census 2027 significant as the first nationwide regular Census to undertake caste enumeration after Independence.

MISCELLANEOUS

Asiatic Lion Population Estimation 2025

• India’s Asiatic lion population increased to 891 in 2025, compared with 523 in 2015, according to the 16th Asiatic Lion Population Estimation.

• The Asiatic lion, scientifically known as Panthera leo persica, has its only natural wild population in India, mainly in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, and is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

• The 16th population estimation was conducted from 10 to 13 May 2025 across 11 districts of Gujarat, involving more than 3,800 forest officials and local volunteers.

• The estimation used the Direct Beat Verification method, and the total population of 891 lions included 330 adult females.

• The lion’s geographical range expanded from around 30,000 sq km in 2020 to nearly 35,000 sq km, with 497 lions recorded outside the core protected areas.

• The population increased from 674 in 2020 to 891 in 2025, representing a 32.2% five-year growth and a 70.36% increase over the 2015 figure.

• Project Lion, launched on 15 August 2020, focuses on disease surveillance, veterinary care, habitat improvement and landscape-level conservation of the Asiatic lion.

• Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary and the Greater Gir landscape remain the principal habitats of the species, while World Lion Day is observed annually on 10 August.