Justice Hrishikesh Roy authored 46 judgements

On 31 January, Justice Hrishikesh Roy retired from the Supreme Court. He was the one of two judges from the Gauhati High Court on the Supreme Court bench. 

During his tenure spanning over five years he was on numerous Constitution Benches and authored almost 46 judgements.

Figure 1 highlights the total judgements (blue bar) authored by judges who have served a tenure longer than two years at the Supreme Court. A separate figure (yellow bar) highlights the average judgements authored each year by the sitting judges. Justice Roy authored 46 judgements, averaging 8.63 judgements per year.

Within the cohort that was appointed alongside Justice Roy, he has authored the least number of total judgements and judgements per year. Justices A.S.Oka, B.R. Gavai and Vikram Nath lead the pack with higher annual averages of 98.79, 59.7 and 50.45 judgements respectively. However, Justice Roy’s average surpassed that of Justice M.M. Sundresh (8.21).

Figure 2 breaks down the number of judgements (left bar) authored by Justice Roy and the number of benches (middle bar) he was a part of. The right bar indicates the rate of authorship (number of benches where he authored the judgement, expressed in percentage terms).

In his first year at the Supreme Court, Justice Roy did not author any judgement, although he was a part of 49 benches. His authorship rate was 0 percent.

In 2020, he authored 3 judgements while being a part of 40 benches. His authorship rate stood at 7.5 percent.

In 2021, he was part of  93 benches (the highest number of benches he was part of in a given year), but authored only one judgement. His authorship rate dropped to 1.07 percent.

In 2022 also, he authored one judgement and was a part of 72 benches. His authorship rate increased to 1.4 percent.

In 2023, he authored 17 judgements and was a part of 37 benches, increasing his authorship rate to 45.9 percent.

In 2024, he authored 23 judgements (the highest number of judgements he authored in a given year) and was a part of 33 benches, bringing his authorship rate to the highest of 69.7 percent.

In January 2025, his last working month at the top court, he authored one judgement, while being a part of two benches, bringing his authorship rate to 50 percent.

For a detailed analysis of his tenure make sure to read our tenure in numbers and notable judgements.

*Note: This data reflects the numbers provided on the Manupatra search engine as of 30 January 2025. There are certain discrepancies in this data. For instance, a reliable source suggests that Justice Roy authored not one, but two judgements in January 2025 - one as part of a three-judge bench rejecting the appointment of Shiksha Karmis in Madhya Pradesh, and another ruling that a resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, containing a proposed combination should only be placed before the Committee of Creditors after it has been approved by the Competition Commission of India. Further, the source indicates that 12 judgements were delivered in 2019.