Many high-profile cases await new CJI

The Supreme Court under Justice Misra’s predecessor Justice J.S. Khehar had taken suo motu cognisance of pendency and judicial vacancies in subordinate courts. The apex court is considering the evolution of a centralised mechanism for appointment of judicial officers in subordinate courts. Bombay blasts case Justice Misra made history when he led the three-judge Bench which heard Yakub Memon, the sole condemned man in the Bombay blasts case, who came knocking on the Supreme Court’s door for a reprieve in the early hours of the day he was hanged to death. Justice Misra is hearing a slew of important cases with far-reaching consequences, including the BCCI case for transparency in Indian cricket administration and the SEBI-Sahara spat, in which the court is playing the taskmaster to get Sahara to repay the0000000 its owes its investors. Nirbhaya judgment In May 2017, Justice Misra authored the landmark judgment confirming the death penalty of four convicts in the brutal Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case which shook the nation and spurred the genesis of a stringent anti-rape law In a recent judgment, Justice Misra described eve-teasing as a “pernicious, horrid and disgusting” practice in India. Recently, it was Justice Misra's Bench which put its foot down to ensure that not a single NEET student in Tamil Nadu would suffer because of the State’s proposal to promulgate an ordinance to freeze the entrance exam. In 2015, a Bench led by Justice Misra set aside the ban on dance bars under the Maharashtra Police Act while observing that there are other alternatives to a ban on dance performances to ensure safety of women.