SC judge turns net savvy

There are even examples of Indian courts referring to verdicts pronounced by the Privy Council of England during the British rule. And, generally, Indian judges do not stray beyond law books and citations while giving rulings.

However, in the internet age, even the Supreme Court has realised the importance of search engines to access more information on different issues. While delivering a judgment on awarding alimony to live-in partners, Supreme Court judge Justice Markandeya Katju has gone beyond the confines of law books to study marriage practices in other countries to arrive at a conclusion. For the first time, Justice Katju has asked the readers of the judgment to search “common law marriages” on Google.