Split verdict

About Split verdict:

• A split verdict is passed when the Bench cannot decide one way or the other in a case, either by an unanimous decision or by a majority verdict.
• Split verdicts can only happen when the Bench has an even number of judges. This is why judges usually sit in Benches of odd numbers (three, five, seven, etc.) for important cases, even though two-judge Benches — known as Division Benches — are not uncommon.
• In case of a split verdict, the case is heard by a larger Bench. The larger Bench to which a split verdict goes can be a three-judge Bench of the High Court, or an appeal can be preferred before the Supreme Court. In the case of the hijab verdict, the CJI, who is the ‘master of the roster’, will constitute a new, larger Bench to hear the matter.

Earlier cases with a split verdict

• A two-judge Bench of the Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict in petitions challenging the exception provided to marital rape in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
• Madras High Court Division Bench order on the challenge to the disqualification of AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to TTV Dinakaran (2018).

Source : Indian Express

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