In a good news, Supreme Court of India has seen a decline in a number of pending cases since Dipak Mishra has taken over as the Chief Justice of India. After Justice Dipak Misra took over as Chief Justice of India on 28.8.2017, total pendency in SC has been reduced by 2174 cases, Supreme Court PR Department revealed on Saturday. Justice Dipak Misra was sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of India in August. Misra, as a Supreme Court justice, has seen delivered many noted verdicts. He was the part of the bench that confirmed the death sentence of the four convicts in the December 16 gangrape case and passed the order for mandatory singing of the national anthem in cinema halls. Justice Misra, 64, had become the chief justice after the retirement of Justice J S Khehar.
Justice Misra is scheduled to remain in office till October 2, 2018. Justice Khehar had named Misra as the next CJI as per the established practice. Earlier, Mishra had served as the chief justice of the Patna High Court and the Delhi high court before being elevated to the apex court in October 2011. Justice Misra, after his enrolment as an advocate in 1977, practiced in constitutional, civil, criminal, revenue, service and sales tax matters in the Orissa High Court. In one of his latest verdicts, Justice Misra, along with Justice P C Pant, had in May, declined to de-criminalise defamation an offence punishable with two years in jail apart from fine saying the right to free speech cannot mean that a citizen can defame anybody.
Mishra had assumed charge of the office of Chief Justice, Patna High Court in 2009 and became the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court a year later. He was later made as a Supreme Court judge in 2011. Mishra is also known for heading the bench that dismissed Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon’s plea seeking a stay on his execution.