In December 1981 a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court delivered the First Judges Case. Justice Bhagwati's opinion opened the courthouse door to public-spirited litigants and gave India its doctrine of Public Interest Litigation, while the majority held that 'consultation' of the Chief Justice in judicial appointments did not mean concurrence. A digest of the facts, the two holdings, and their divergent later fortunes.
On 16 October 2015, a five-judge Constitution Bench held by 4:1 that the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 were unconstitutional — and restored the collegium system for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts. The majority held that judicial primacy in the appointment process is part of the independence of the judiciary, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Justice Chelameswar dissented entirely. A digest of the bench, the doctrinal architecture, and the Memorandum of Procedure question that remains.