Justice in Transition: Jurisprudential Developments and Institutional Reforms in India’s Apex Court
(Judicial Quest News Network)
Kathmandu, 05, September 2025 — The judiciaries of India and Nepal have reaffirmed their longstanding and evolving partnership through enhanced institutional cooperation. In April 2025, the Supreme Courts of both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at exchanging best practices, fostering dialogue, and strengthening collaboration.
The agreement seeks to promote mutual learning, capacity-building, and the advancement of judicial reforms. Following the signing, the Chief Justice of Nepal extended an invitation to the Chief Justice of India, underscoring the commitment to deepen bilateral ties. The ongoing visit marks a continuation of this collaborative spirit, reflecting the courts’ shared resolve to uphold judicial excellence and reinforce democratic governance in both nations.
In both nations, the judiciary stands as a vital conduit between the people’s aspirations and the constitutional ideals they cherish. Its role extends beyond mere dispute resolution—it is entrusted with the profound responsibility of safeguarding the principles of justice, equality, and human dignity, ensuring these values are not just theoretical but actively realized in everyday governance.
The judiciary’s role in India has undergone a marked transformation over the years, moving well beyond its traditional function of strictly interpreting and enforcing statutory provisions. Once confined largely to the “black-letter law” approach — the rigid application of established legal principles — the courts today are increasingly expected to look at the larger purpose and impact of the law.
This shift, which has evolved over decades, reflects a more proactive and engaged judiciary, one that sees its role as not just interpreting the law but also shaping its meaning in line with constitutional values and social realities.
“While I have been invited to highlight some of the recent judicial developments, it is, in reality, impossible to do justice to the sheer volume and diversity of the Supreme Court of India’s work. Every year, the Court disposes of thousands of cases, encompassing a wide spectrum of legal questions. Among these, hundreds of matters engage with fundamental questions of law, evolving doctrines, and constitutional interpretation. Each of these judgments, whether widely reported or relatively obscure, contributes to the ongoing development of jurisprudence. “Said the CJI BR Gavai.
He further said that the doctrine of the Basic Structure has now become a well‑settled principle in Indian constitutional jurisprudence. Its significance has transcended national boundaries, as India’s judgments on the Basic Structure Doctrine have been cited and relied upon by the constitutional courts of several other countries.
In recent years, the Supreme Court of India has steadily broadened the canvas of fundamental rights, drawing fresh interpretations from existing constitutional provisions. Rather than treating the Constitution as a set of compartmentalized chapters, the Court has increasingly approached it as a unified whole, allowing organic growth of its jurisprudence.
This interpretative method has enabled the Court to recognize newer rights while grounding them firmly in constitutional text and principle. By building on its own precedents, the Court has created a jurisprudential continuum—one that both respects tradition and widens the constitutional promise to address contemporary needs.
The CJI said that to promote greater accountability and efficiency in the judiciary, the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) launched in the last decade, functions as a comprehensive monitoring system, providing real-time insights into the functioning of courts and enabling evidence-based decision-making. As of February 2025, the NJDG contains data on over 23 crore cases and 22 crore orders from 18,735 courts across India. By systematically identifying bottlenecks, tracking court performance, and highlighting pendency trends, the NJDG equips judicial administrators and policymakers with the information needed to design effective strategies to reduce delays and improve the overall efficiency of the justice system.
While concluding his speech, CJI said that constant dialogue among judiciaries helps in upholding constitutional values in an increasingly interconnected world, judiciaries can no longer function in isolation. The exchange of ideas, knowledge, and experiences has become indispensable to their growth and effectiveness. Today’s dialogue underscores the value of such engagement, reaffirming that mutual learning is not only desirable but essential for strengthening the institutions of justice in our time
