Supreme Court launches webpage to give summaries of important judgments

New Delhi: In order to make common citizens easily comprehend its landmark decisions, the Supreme Court has launched a new web page on its official website that provides summaries of important judgments delivered by the court. 

The initiative seeks to make it easier for citizens to understand the court's important decisions in line with the court’s broader goal of ensuring an informed citizenry, promoting legal awareness, and enhancing public engagement with the law.

According to an official statement, decisions of the Supreme Court of India impact diverse areas of public life nationwide. The court therefore recognises the importance of making its judgments accessible to all citizens.

However, complex legal language and the length of judgements can serve as a barrier to citizens

understanding the work and decisions of the court, and may even lead to misconceptions about important judgements, it said.

"To overcome this barrier and to ensure that all persons can easily understand its significant decisions, the new web page provides accurate summaries of important decisions in simple and clear language," it said.

The summaries are uploaded on a newly created web page titled “Landmark Judgment Summaries” on the official site of the Supreme Court of India. 

The “Landmark Judgment Summaries” page features a year-wise curated list of significant judgments that are of public interest. 

Each case is identifiable by a subject line that provides a one-line description of what the case is about, enabling readers to quickly find the case they wish to peruse. The page also offers direct links to view the full judgment along with video recordings of the hearings and oral transcripts of the arguments, if available. 

The summaries are written in a manner that allows readers to understand both the outcome of a case and the reasoning of the Court. The webpage will continue to be updated to include summaries of new decisions as well as important historical decisions. 

The summaries are prepared by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court.

"As the Supreme Court celebrates its 75th year, the launch of the “Landmark Judgment Summaries” web page aims to enhance public engagement with the court. This initiative underscores the Supreme Court’s commitment to disseminating legal knowledge and promoting an informed citizenry capable of engaging with important legal issues," it said.