Important cases heard in Supreme Court on Friday

Important cases heard in the Supreme Court on Friday, December 16: * The right to personal liberty is a ''precious and an inalienable right'' and by attending to grievances alleging its violation the Supreme Court performs its ''plain constitutional duty, obligation and function; no more and no less'', a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said.

* Public interest litigation (PIL) matters are being increasingly used to target infrastructure projects, the SC observed while refusing to entertain a plea challenging the re-development of a plot of land in Mumbai.

* A petition has been filed in the SC, seeking an independent probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into a recent hooch tragedy in Bihar, in which at least 30 people have lost their lives.

* SC said it will hear a plea filed by the Andhra Pradesh government, seeking an equitable and expeditious division of assets and liabilities between itself and Telangana, in the second week of January.

* SC directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Bihar government to expeditiously decide the name of the successor of incumbent Director-General of Police (DGP) S K Singhal who is demitting office on December 19.

* In yet another step towards digitisation and making the SC a ''paperless'' court, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud announced that from New Year, advocates will not be required to file appearance slip manually but would log into 'Advocate Appearance Portal' to mark their presence.