2001: Make mid-day meal programmes in school mandatory

Justice Balakrishnan says this judgement is “most special” to him. The two-member Bench, including Justice BN Kripal, ruled that mid-day meals be made “statutory”.

1997: Impose a ban on bandhs

Restriction on holding people and the city to ransom by calling bandhs

In a severe indictment of then Bihar Governor Buta Singh, the Constitutional Bench, in a majority verdict (3:2), held that he had misled the Centre in recommending dissolution of the State Assembly. The Union Council of Ministers, they said, should have cross-checked before accepting his recommendation. The Assembly was dissolved on May 23, 2005.

The majority judgement was passed by Chief Justice YK Sabharwal and Justices BN Agarwal and Ashok Bhan. Justices Balakrishnan and Arijit Pasayat took the minority view. Justice Balakrishnan disagreed on the main aspect of the petition, that whether the proclamation to dissolve the Assembly was illegal and unconstitutional.

The majority judges inferred from the May 21, 2005, report of Buta Singh as the Governor of Bihar that he believed that 17 or 18 MLAs belonging to the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) were moving towards the Janata Dal (United), meaning the latter could stake its claim to form the government. They described as arbitrary the Governor’s two assumptions that the move was itself indicative of various allurements having been offered to the LJP MLAs and that the claim that might be staked to form a government would affect the constitutional provisions and safeguards built therein, and distort the verdict of the people.

... contd.