Supreme Court's Constitution Bench Faces Pileup of Long-Pending Cases

There are 25 cases pending before the Constitution Bench in the Supreme Court. Two cases related to the minority status of Sikhs in Punjab and the dispute between Rice Millers and FCI were referred to the Constitution Bench 16 years ago. But till date, the Constitution Bench has not been constituted to hear them. Apart from these, 4 more cases have also been pending for 10 years or more. These cases have also been pending with smaller benches for years before being referred to the Constitution Bench. All the cases pending before the Constitution Bench are of wide constitutional importance. 4 cases are related to reservation and political representation. There are 3 cases each related to employment, elections, centre-state rights and economic disputes. 2 cases are related to religion-culture. Muslim reservations, Muslim marriages, women's property rights, digital privacy issues are also pending for hearing. The Constitution Bench has to decide the constitutional questions related to reservation, governor-speaker's rights, privacy, etc.