Supreme Court Justice BV Nagaratna, one of the three out of 30 women judges in the Supreme Court of India, is in news for her two dissenting judgments in two days. Justice BV Nagaratna is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in September 2027.
Justice BV Nagaratna delivered a dissenting judgment on the government’s demonetisation proposal on January 2, 2016; and on freedom of speech for parliamentarians and public officials.
Who is Justice Bibi Nagaratna?
Justice BV Nagaratna is the daughter of Justice ES Venkataramaiah, who was the Chief Justice of India for about 6 months in the year 1989. Justice BV Nagarath started her practice as an Additional Judge in the Karnataka High Court in 2008. Justice BV Nagrath is now one of them. Four sitting women judges of the Supreme Court.
Two dissenting judgments delivered by BV Nagaratna
Justice BV Nagrath was one of the five judges who were part of the bench that decided the plea to legalize demonetisation. In doing so, 58 petitions were dismissed. Out of 5 judges, 4 agreed with the decision on demonetisation, while one Justice dissented. Justice BV Nagaratna was the one whose opinion differed from the rest of the 4 judges. He said that although demonetisation was in the interest of the people, it was illegal even on legal grounds.
On Tuesday, she was part of a bench of justices ruling on freedom of expression for parliamentarians and public officials. He said that indecent language attacks the basic values of the Constitution by terming the society as unequal. Justice BV Nagaratna was of the view that law makers and public functionaries need to be more responsible and restrained in their speech as they are setting an example for fellow citizens.