India's Supreme Court Sees Rise in Lengthy Judgments: A Growing Concern for the Apex Court

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The Supreme Court of India has crossed a new milestone, delivering over 1,400 judgments in a single year. However, a concerning trend has emerged, with the length of judgments varying greatly. In 2025, Justice JB Pardiwala's 415-page ruling in the Tamil Nadu Governor case stood out as the longest, only to be partially nullified by a 111-page judgment delivered by a five-judge constitution bench in November. This contrast is not an isolated instance. Justice Pardiwala features frequently among the year's longest rulings, with seven of the 10 lengthiest judgments delivered in 2025 authored by him. On the other hand, constitution bench judgments, meant to authoritatively settle constitutional law, were relatively few and often more concise. Historically, the Supreme Court has been known for its verbosity, with the longest judgment ever delivered being the 1,448-page Puttaswamy (Aadhaar) verdict in 2018. However, globally, constitutional courts have moved towards conciseness. The US Supreme Court and the UK Supreme Court, frequently cited by Indian courts, have delivered judgments that are significantly shorter. The debate over judicial length is not new, with former Supreme Court judge HR Khanna warning against unnecessarily long judgments in his 1985 Tagore Law Lectures. As the court enters a phase of leadership transition, with Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud's tenure coming to an end and Justice Surya Kant taking over, the issue of judicial length gains added significance. Justice Kant has acknowledged the challenge posed by over 90,000 pending cases in the top court and has promised to prioritize older and blocked matters. With Justice Pardiwala in line to become Chief Justice of India in May 2028, the issue of judicial length is likely to remain a pressing concern for the apex court.