Men who wrote the verdict

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan was the first Dalit to hold this high office.

Upon being appointed as a Supreme Court judge on June 8, 2000, the CJI delivered some important judgments on constitutional issues such as reservation for the OBCs in higher educational institutions.

Balakrishnan retires on May 11 and upheld the government’s control over pricing of gas in the Ambani brothers’ dispute.

Justice P Sathasivam, who wrote the majority judgment favoring the government, was enrolled as an advocate on July 25, 1973 at Madras.

As an advocate he argued civil cases, criminal matters, company petitions, insolvency petitions, habeas corpus petitions.

He was appointed as the Madras high court judge on January 8, 1996 and to the Punjab & Haryana High Court in April 2007. He was elevated to the SC on August 21, 2007.

Justice B Sudershan Reddy differed with the bench hearing the case on the issue of the legal status of the memorandum of understanding.

Unlike the other members, including the CJI, Justice Reddy said the MoU has no sanctity and is not binding.
Justice Reddy was appointed as Andhra Pradesh high court judge in May 1995.

He was appointed as chief justice of the Guwahati High Court in December 2005 and was elevated to the SC in 2007.