Justice Nagarathna makes her mark by two separate dissenting views

Sitting in a five-judge Constitution bench, Supreme Court judge, Justice B V Nagarathna has made a mark by giving two separate judgments in as many days, including the dissenting one on 2016 demonetisation exercise.

She is scheduled to become the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027 for a period of only 36 days.

Justice Nagarathna was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2021.

Born on October 30, 1962, Justice Nagarathna is the daughter of former CJI E S Venkataramiah.

She got herself enrolled as an advocate on October 28,1987 at Bangalore and practised in the fields pertaining to the Constitution, commerce, insurance and service.

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She was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka on February 18, 2008 and became a permanent Judge on February 17, 2010.

She will have a tenure as SC judge till October 29, 2027 and may have a tenure of over one month as the first woman CJI after September 23, 2027.

On Monday, she declared that the 2016 demonetisation exercise was unlawful, since the proposal was initiated by the central government and not by the central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). She also said there was no independent application of mind by the RBI.

On Tuesday, Justice Nagarathna again differed on several points with the four other judges in the Constitution bench. Among others, she said fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution cannot be enforced against persons other than the State or its instrumentalities. However, they may be the basis for seeking common law remedies.

She also put importance of a proper legal framework to define the acts or omissions which would amount to constitutional torts to seek remedy by the aggrieved persons following a vitriolic or disparaging statements by public functionaries.