In a significant development at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai has reconstituted bench combinations involving Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan.
The earlier pairing of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan has now been split.
The new roster pairs Justice Pardiwala with Justice K.V. Viswanathan, while Justice B.V. Nagarathna will sit alongside Justice Mahadevan.
The cause list for August 18, 2025, published on August 16, initially showed a Bench combination comprising Justice Pardiwala with Justice Mahadevan. It was later revised with a note stating: “The matters shown before this Court in the final and supplementary list for 18.08.2025 before the bench comprising Hon. J.B. Pardiwala and Hon. R. Mahadevan, JJ., will now be taken up for hearing by this bench except part-heard and specifically directed matters, if any.”
The same note has been appended to the cause list for August 19.
The cause lists for August 20 and 21, issued this evening, also maintain the reconstituted bench combination.
It is not immediately clear whether this change is temporary due to administrative reasons or if the bench has been reconstituted for all upcoming days.
The move might have come in the backdrop of two recent controversial orders passed by a Bench of Justices Pardiwala and Mahadevan. One being against the Allahabad High Court judge stripping him of criminal roster, another being directing the rounding up of stray dogs from Delhi-NCR. Both decisions have drawn attention within legal and judicial circles.