India, Jan. 14 -- A constitutional court exists in a democracy, provokes strong emotions, and functions under the public eye. But there is a difference - crucial and constitutional - between recognising a judgment's public consequences and letting public opinion shape judicial outcomes. In 2025, that line began to blur.

Over the last year, the Supreme Court reversed eight of its own judgments, a tally rare in recent memory. Several others were recalled, reopened, or substantially modified. Many of these did not emerge from the slow grind of doctrinal reconsideration. Instead, they occurred sometimes within weeks or months, often following waves of media outrage, street-level anxiety, and political discomfort. While each may be defensible...