Legal Talks by Desikanoon

Supreme Court on What is a Judgment and its Meaning

Episode Summary

On today’s show, we will discuss the case of Shakuntala Shukla v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 672, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court discussed the meaning of “judgment” at length.

Episode Notes

On today’s show, we will discuss the case of Shakuntala Shukla v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 672, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court discussed the meaning of “judgment” at length.

To know more about it, please visit https://www.desikanoon.co.in/2021/09/judgment-meaning-supreme-court.html

Telegram: https://t.me/Legal_Talks_by_DesiKanoon

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMmVCFV7-Kfo_6S42kPhz2w

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-talks-by-desikanoon/id1510617120

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3KdnziPc4I73VfEcFJa59X?si=vYgrOEraQD-NjcoXA2a7Lg&dl_branch=1&nd=1

Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS84ZTZTcGREcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuz4ifzpLxAhVklGMGHb4HAdwQ9sEGegQIARAD

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4b89fb71-1836-414e-86f6-1116324dd7bc/Legal-Talks-by-Desikanoon

Please subscribe and follow us on YouTube, Instagram, iTunes, Twitter, LinkedIn, Discord, Telegram and Facebook.

Credits:

Music by Wataboi from Pixabay

Thank you for listening!

Episode Transcription

Hi everyone.

Welcome to Legal Talks by Desi Kanoon.

I am Suyash and I am excited to have started this show.

The brief background of the case is that a High Court had granted bail to a person pending his criminal appeal without dealing with the contentions of the parties. Such judgment and order granting bail was challenged before the Supreme Court on the ground that the affidavits and contentions of the state have neither been dealt with nor have been referred to in the impugned judgment. In this regard, the Supreme Court discussed the meaning of ‘judgment’. The facts of the case are not relevant for the purposes of this show and hence, the same are not being discussed. Now, let us go through the pertinent observations by the Supreme Court.

Firstly, the Court observed that “Judgment means a judicial opinion which tells the story of the case; what the case is about; how the court is resolving the case and why. “Judgment” is defined as any decision given by a court on a question or questions or issue between the parties to a proceeding properly before court. It is also defined as the decision or the sentence of a court in a legal proceeding along with the reasoning of a judge which leads him to his decision. The term “judgment” is loosely used as judicial opinion or decision.”

Secondly, the Court discussed four purposes for any judgment: -

a. To spell out the thoughts of the judge;

b. To explain decision of the judge to the parties;

c. To communicate the reasons for the decision to the public; and

d. To provide reasons for an appellate court to consider.

Thirdly, the Court noted that “it is not adequate that a decision is accurate, it must also be reasonable, logical and easily comprehensible. The judicial opinion is to be written in such a way that it elucidates in a convincing manner and proves the fact that the verdict is righteous and judicious. What the court says, and how it says it, is equally important as what the court decides.”

Fourthly, the Court also discussed the four basic elements of a judgment. A judgment should contain: -

1. Statement of material (relevant) facts.

2. Legal issues or questions.

3. deliberation to reach a decision.

4. Ratio or conclusive decision.

Fifthly, apart from the afore-stated elements, the Court also spelled out various other elements that a judgment should contain such as Caption, Case number and citation, Facts, Issues, Summary of arguments by both the parties, Application of law, Final conclusive verdict etc.

Sixthly, the Court opined that a judgment must be written with care and its reasoning should be logical. Further, “all conclusions should be supported by reasons duly recorded.” According to the Court, though it is true that judges are overburdened, yet “quality can never be sacrificed for quantity” as a judgment that is not clear will get overruled at a later point of time.

And lastly, the Court noted that “there must be a clarity on the final relief granted” as a litigant must know what he has actually got in the final relief and such clarity in judgments would also ensure that burden of the Appellate Courts is reduced. “A judgment has to formulate findings of fact, it has to decide what the relevant principles of law are, and it has to apply those legal principles to the facts.”

Those were the observations by the Court. So, what are my concluding remarks?

It is a travesty of justice that judgments get passed without even following the basic elements that a judgment should contain. The Supreme Court rightly observed that quality can never be sacrificed for quantity. In the name of pendency of cases, judgments cannot be passed in a casual and lackadaisical manner that ultimately get overruled by the higher courts. The Supreme Court has beautifully and succinctly explained the basic elements of a judgment. I hope that the courts below peruse this judgment and strictly adhere to the guidelines provided in it.