Saurav Das
@SauravDassss • 89,320 subscribers
Investigative Journalist / Law, Judiciary, Policy / Work on “Highlights” section below / Support my work: https://t.co/TUmuFTqZ3g
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Videos
#WATCH: Five judges are set to be elevated to the Supreme Court of India. Two among them have superseded judges senior to them. One such judge is Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, G.S. Sandhawalia—an honest, upright judge of unimpeachable integrity. No one pushed for his, or Justice Atul Sreedharan’s elevation within the Collegium. The CONSISTENT failure to bring fiercely independent and upright judges to the country’s highest constitutional court is becoming one of the GRAVEST failures of the Collegium. Equally troubling, if not more, is the complete SILENCE of the political opposition on these questions. One cannot remain indifferent during appointments and then suddenly discover outrage only after controversial judgments like SIR are delivered. The judicial institution has been weakened not overnight but through steady erosion. Silence, compromise, opacity, selective courage, and the complete normalisation of mediocrity over brilliance and integrity. Unfortunately, if this trajectory continues unchecked for a few more years, there will eventually come a point where large sections of people begin LOSING all faith in the very legitimacy of this system itself. And it already appears to have begun. Courts survive because people continue to believe that justice, fairness, and constitutional morality still meaningfully reside within them. The day that belief collapses—complete chaos. It is something all of us need to think urgently about before it becomes too late. With Ambuj Kumar —
Saurav Das89,489 views • 8 days ago
🚨Some who shamelessly attempted to defend the Chief Justice’s comments talked about the misuse of RTI and PILs. Sure, but accountability flows both ways. What does the “system” that Chief Justice Kant is so concerned about do when frivolous PILs are filed? How many cases of judges imposing costs on such PILs? What did the “system” do in the Yashwant Verma case? Was a FIR filed after tons of burnt cash disappeared by the dawn? So does not such a system merit thorough public scrutiny and critique? With Ajit Anjum. Do watch—
Saurav Das68,588 views • 19 days ago
#WATCH: Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan are one of most upright, brilliant, and intellectually rigorous judges who have consistently stood up for civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. The two’s disapproval of another two-judge bench’s decision denying bail to #UmarKhalid and Sharjeel Imam is a significant internal dissent against the Supreme Court’s own failure to take a sustained and holistic view when it comes to fundamental right to liberty. The judges even observed that “judicial discipline” required Justices Aravind Kumar and N.V. Anjaria to follow the 2021 Najeeb judgment which recognised prolonged incarceration as a ground for bail in UAPA cases in Khalid and Imam’s bail plea.
Saurav Das35,678 views • 17 days ago
This is such a good video on the entire cockroach controversy! Made by Vijeta Dahiya.
Saurav Das24,104 views • 18 days ago
Shocking! When asked why GRAP Stage 3 measures have not been imposed despite the AQI crossing the 400 mark, the Delhi Environment Minister Sirsa says it’s not the Delhi government’s responsibility alone to impose them! Now the blame game is between authorities within a triple-engine government?! #HelpUsBreathe
Saurav Das115,184 views • 6 months ago
#WATCH: The indomitable Abhisar Sharma has done a video report on not just my revelations in the Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma-Arvind Kejriwal recusal case, but also on the larger issue of increasingly biased and blatantly communal judges in the Indian judiciary. Do watch:
Saurav Das30,301 views • 1 month ago
So happy to be featured in ravish kumar sir’s latest on former CJI D.Y. Chandrachud. Independent journalism requires courage, persistence, and most importantly, your support. If you want the truth to survive the noise, stand with it. Support my work by contributing today:
Saurav Das106,798 views • 8 months ago
When asked about the Union Government not clearing names recommended by the collegium, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud says “of course this is a matter of concern to me as the CJI.” If CJI Chandrachud was so concerned, what explains him taking away the case on judicial appointments from Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul’s bench in December 2023? Kaul’s bench was hammering the govt to clear names as per today’s law and at least 95+ names were cleared as a result. What explains the fact that this case was never ever listed again after Kaul’s retirement that month and as a result of which, the LEAST number of HC appts (around 34 only in 2024) have been cleared by the govt since many many years? What explains the fact that his collegium also made the least number of collegium recommendations (160 something) which is the least since 2017, even when the HC vacancies have almost touched an alarming figure of 400 in the country? (CJI TS Thakur had cried before PM Modi in 2016 due to similar figures, saying how judges are overworked and litigants are suffering—no such effort seen to be taken by CJI Chandrachud). Only 34 names cleared this year for HC appts when vacancies have touched 400—can you believe this? Justice Kaul’s bench had cracked the whip to an extent, so why was the case taken away from him by the master of the roster? And why was it never relisted? As CJI, can you not be interested in appointing judges because the litigants are really suffering? So what really happened? What politics was being played? Answers in my The Caravan profile of DYC.
Saurav Das106,299 views • 1 year ago
#Imp: Couple of days ago, the Patna High Court directed all social media intermediaries to remove and stall circulation of an AI-generated video posted by Bihar Congress which featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother Heeraben Modi. The speed with which the Acting Chief Justice PB Bajanthri and Justice Alok Kumar Sinha passed this order is not usual. This is because as per the High Court’s website, the petition, filed on 16 Sept (and heard the same day) was in “defects”—meaning the case could not have been listed before the court unless the defects were first cured. YET, the matter was listed and heard with lightning speed—something which the courts have usually failed to do in SEVERAL other hateful videos that BJP handles have circulated, most recently the Assam BJP handle. Interestingly, the counsel for the petitioner is Praveen Kumar, an advocate who has been recommended for judgeship by the Collegium on 1 July 2025. His file is pending before the union government. Also, the Acting Chief Justice, who is retiring in about a month, has been recommended for Chief Justiceship too, but the file is pending before the government.
Saurav Das49,854 views • 8 months ago
What an honour to have been featured by ravish kumar sir yet again in his latest episode on the judiciary! In this bit, he discusses my ‘Case In Point’ column in Frontline, where I wrote about Bhima Koregaon-accused Surendra Gadling’s bail plea before Supreme Court judge Justice M.M. Sundresh and his subsequent recusal. Ravish sir was not only kind enough to feature my work in his signature style, but also highlighted my tweet inviting people to support my work (do consider— And what a delightful touch with the saxophone reference! Hopefully, it’s a hobby I’ll take up in the future haha🎷 Video link—
Saurav Das52,141 views • 9 months ago
Almost 1500 days since Umar Khalid was jailed. Many other political prisoners too. The manner in which the judiciary is treating their cases deserves scrutiny. Accountability of judges is the need of the hour. The Members of Parliament need to step in. Please listen in.
Saurav Das90,294 views • 1 year ago