Daily Bulletin

The Supreme Court, in its quarterly digest for July-September 2026 (published November 13, 2026), ruled that an insurer is lawfully entitled to repudiate a fire insurance claim if the insured willfully makes false declarations, relies on manipulated accounts, or inflates inventory, violating policy conditions. The Court clarified that while an approved surveyor's report is a prerequisite, it is neither sacrosanct nor conclusive, permitting subsequent surveyors for serious abnormalities. Furthermore, the legal principle of presuming an accidental fire does not apply when there is reasonable cause to suspect arson, deliberate staging, or gross lack of bona fide fire-minimization efforts by the insured, emphasizing that consumer fora must not ignore detailed empirical data from surveyor reports.

The Supreme Court, in a significant ruling on November 3, held that a person married under Indian law cannot use a foreign divorce decree to escape bigamy proceedings in India if the divorce was granted on grounds not recognised by Indian law. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekar clarified that a change in citizenship or the location of the second marriage does not alter the legal consequences of a marriage subsisting under Indian law, reinforcing principles from Y. Narasimha Rao v. Venkata Lakshmi (1991).

The Directorate of Census Operations, Goa, announced the schedule for Census 2027, with Self-Enumeration (SE) commencing from November 16 to November 30, 2026, via the official website http://se.census.gov.in. Population Enumeration (PE) will follow from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027, with a revisional round from January 5 to January 9, 2027, and the reference date set at 00:00 hours of January 5, 2027. Ms. Cheshta Yadav, Director of Census Operations, Goa, urged public participation, assuring confidentiality under the Census Act, 1948, under the campaign slogan "Amchi Janaganana, Amcho Vikas."

The Karnataka government will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the inclusion of the enhanced reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. This decision follows the High Court of Karnataka's action to quash the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 2022, which had aimed to increase the quota. Inclusion in the Ninth Schedule would typically shield the law from judicial review on grounds of violating fundamental rights.

The Indian Express reported on Friday, November 13, 2026, that the Centre is planning to convene a special session of Parliament before the regularly scheduled Winter Session this year. This session is reportedly aimed at securing the passage of legislative agenda concerning the delimitation of electoral constituencies and the implementation of women’s reservation, potentially being the final opportunity to advance the women's quota to coincide with the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26, recognizing Visakhapatnam as the cleanest city among those with over one million population, with Jabalpur and Lucknow following. Navi Mumbai topped the 'Super Swachh League', while new categories saw Rewa as the cleanest riverfront town, Puri as the cleanest coastal town, and Rudrapur as the cleanest Himalayan city.

The 'Swachh Sheher Jodi' initiative, launched on September 27, 2025, which pairs cities for mentorship in waste management, saw Ahmedabad-Sanand secure the first position. Complementing this, the PRAGATI-50 initiative, launched in September 2026, aims to develop 50 cities as Model Clean Cities through technology-driven interventions, reinforcing the vision of a Swachh and Viksit Bharat.

The Supreme Court, as reported in its November 13, 2026 digest, clarified the scope of jurisdiction for a Referee Bench under Section 58(3) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, when there is a difference of opinion. The Court ruled that while a referee Bench typically returns answers to specific points of difference, if the referring Bench formulates broad questions necessitating an examination of the entire evidence, the referee member deciding the appeal on merits based on the majority opinion does not constitute a jurisdictional illegality.