The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid.
The verdict was pronocuned by five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra .
Three sets of judgements were pronounced. The first of the three verdicts was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri who wrote the judgement for himself, CJI and Justice A M Khanwilkar.
Justice Chandrachud and Justice A Bhushan, who are part of the bench, have written their individual opinions.
Aadhaar - Meet The Judges
Justice Dipak Misra
Justice Dipak Misra is the current and 45th Chief Justice of India. CJI Misra is retiring on October 2. But as the day is a national holiday on account of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, October 1 will be his last working day.
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Born in 1953, Misra began his career as an advocate in February 1977. He was appointed Additional Judge of Orissa High Court on January 17, 1996.
He was later transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court on March 3, 1997. He became a permanent judge on December 19, 1997.
Justice Misra was appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on December 23, 2009. He was transferred as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on May 24, 2010 and was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on October 10, 2011.
Recently, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice Misra unanimously decriminalised part of the 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalises homosexuality.
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He is known for heading the bench that dismissed Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon’s petition seeking a stay on his execution and upholding the death sentence given to Nirbhaya’s killers.
Before he retires, Justice Misra is set to deliver verdict in several important cases such as Aadhaar, Ayodhya title suit, prohibition to the entry of menstruating women in Sabrimala temple, the "discriminatory" adultery law and the reservation in promotion for SC/ST.
Justice A M Khanwilkar
Justice A M Khanwilkar is a Justice of the Supreme Court of India and the former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
He was appointed an additional judge at Bombay High Court in 2000. Justice Khanwilkar was appointed as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in April, 2013. He assumed charge as a judge of the Supreme Court of India in 2016.
He was part of the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court which delivered verdict on Section 377.
He was also part of the Supreme Court bench which allowed a writ petition filed by the mother of a 13-year-old rape victim, seeking medical termination of the daughter’s 24-week-old foetus.
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court on 13 May 2016, He was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 31 October 2013 until his appointment to the top court.
He had also served as a Judge of the Bombay High Court and as Director of Maharashtra Judicial Academy.
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He was the Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 until appointment as a judge.
Justice Chandrachud was part of the landmark judgement of nine-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court that declared Right to Privacy as Fundamental Right.
Justice A.K. Sikri
Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri is a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was earlier the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sikri was appointed as Judge of the High Court of Delhi in July, 1999 and has also served as the Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court from 10 October 2011 before being elevated as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2012.
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Justice Ashok Bhushan
Justice Ashok Bhushan is currently a judge at the Supreme Court of India. He was the 31st Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. He was selected as the Judge of the High Court of Kerala In Jul, 2014.
He took charge as the Acting Chief Justice in August, 2014 and as the Chief Justice in March, 2015.
He was appointed as the Supreme Court of India judge in May 2016.
