Rush Hour: SC sets aside order declaring 27 as foreigners, TN cow slaughter ban stayed and more

The Supreme Court set aside Gauhati High Court orders declaring 27 persons to be foreigners. The bench remanded the cases to foreigners tribunals for fresh adjudication.

The court said that determining a person’s citizenship status carries a “high field of constitutional significance” and must be decided through a “fair, lawful and reasonable” process.

The High Court had said that the appellants had not challenged the tribunals’ orders for nearly 23 years. Acknowledging that they should be given a fair chance to establish their Indian citizenship, the bench said that the opportunity cannot be “enlarged into an endless exercise”. Read on.

Both Hindu and Muslim parties declined the Supreme Court’s proposal for mediation in the disputes relating to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The litigants will continue to pursue the cases in court.

Each of these mosques, Hindutva groups contend, is actually a Hindu temple.

The court had sought consent of parties involved in the three cases to engage in mediation of the disputes under the 2026 Supreme Court Action for Mediated Adjudication and Disputes Harmonization Across Nation Samadhan Samaroh. The initiative began in April and will conclude with a Special Lok Adalat in August. Read on.

The Supreme Court stayed a Madras...

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