75 yrs of SC: Top court transformed constitutional promise of justice to reality, says CJI Sanjiv Khanna

However, the CJI said there are three challenges that demanded attention. “First, the weight of arrears which continues to delay justice. Second, mounting costs of litigation threatens true accessibility. Third, and perhaps most fundamentally – justice cannot thrive where and when falsehood is practised. These challenges mark the next frontier in our pursuit for justice,” the CJI said.

“75 years after our constitutional journey began, the Supreme Court stands transformed, yet anchored in its foundational mission. This transformation reflects a deeper recognition – that justice must be both principled and practical,” the CJI said.

“Each decade of our court’s jurisprudence serves as a mirror to our nation’s challenges. Like rings in a mature tree that reflect its journey through different seasons, these judgments reflect not just legal evolution, but our country’s very pulse. What emerges is not an unmoving structure carved from sandstone, but rather a living, breathing institution. It has been responsive to the conscience of our democracy, adapting and evolving to embrace the complexities of each era while remaining rooted in the bedrock of constitutional values,” CJI Khanna said.

Tracing the evolution of jurisprudence in the court, CJI Khanna said that “in the initial years”, it “had interpreted all fundamental rights as rights working in exclusive silos” but “this judicial attitude, however, underwent a significant change after the Emergency was imposed in 1975.”

The CJI said that “the 1990s ushered in an era where the Supreme Court not only remained vigilant in protecting individual rights but also stepped in to address legislative and executive gaps.”

The CJI said that “apart from public law,” the SC’s “decisions have strengthened India’s economic landscape by injecting clarity, efficiency and fairness – be it the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code or the Arbitration & Conciliation Act. This court has also strived to strengthen Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms.”

Recalling the S R Bommai judgment where a nine-judge bench held that federalism is a basic structure of the Constitution which cannot be abrogated by a constitutional amendment, the CJI said the case “also has implications for the secular fabric of India. The court, inter alia, held that secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution.”