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Current affairsFrontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) Act 2026: Presidential Assent and Autonomy for Six Eastern Nagaland DistrictsPresident Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) Bill 2026, which was unanimously passed by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on September 3, 2026. The Act creates a 62-member autonomous authority with powers over 46 subjects for six underserved eastern Nagaland districts, addressing a longstanding demand of the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO). Current affairsLadakh Bench of J&K High Court Inaugurated: Access to Justice in India's Highest UTChief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant inaugurated the Ladakh Bench of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Melongthang, Leh on October 18–19, 2026, ending years of geographic inaccessibility to justice for Ladakh's residents. The bench, approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2026, operates as a fully IT-enabled, paperless court and marks the culmination of judicial reforms triggered by the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. Current affairs57th GST Council Meeting (October 8, 2026): Arrest Powers Removed, Prosecution Threshold Raised to ₹5 Crore — Key DecisionsThe 57th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was held on October 8, 2026 in New Delhi. The Council approved removal of arrest powers for GST officers under Section 69 of the CGST Act and raised the criminal prosecution threshold from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore, shifting GST enforcement from coercive to compliance-trust-based mechanisms. Current affairsProposed Article 371-K for Ladakh: MHA's Sui Generis Constitutional Safeguard for the Union TerritoryThe Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed inserting a new Article 371-K in the Constitution to provide Ladakh with an elected legislative body empowered over land, culture, language, forests, and natural resources — a constitutionally unprecedented move that would extend Article 371-type safeguards to a Union Territory for the first time. Current affairsSupreme Court Collegium Approves 12 Additional Judges as Permanent in Four High CourtsOn September 23, 2026, the Supreme Court Collegium comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath and B.V. Nagarathna approved the confirmation of 12 Additional Judges as Permanent Judges across the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Gauhati — reinforcing the collegium-driven judicial appointment mechanism that has governed India's higher judiciary since 1993. Current affairsSupreme Court Directs States to Raise District Judges' Retirement Age: Pendency Crisis, Constitutional Framework, and Judicial ReformA Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed all States and Union Territories on September 1, 2026, to consider raising the retirement age of district judiciary judicial officers from 60 to 61/62 years, in the long-pending case All India Judges Association v. Union of India (W.P.(C) No. 1022/1989). The direction is driven by over 5.18 crore pending cases in district courts and 1,744 vacancies, and is contested by 10 States citing financial constraints. Current affairsPCA Rules Indus Waters Treaty Remains Fully Binding: India Cannot Suspend the 1960 Accord — Kishanganga, Ratle Hydropower Dispute and India's Jurisdictional StandThe Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague unanimously ruled on 31 August 2026 that India cannot unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, declaring the accord "remains fully in force." India, which placed the treaty in abeyance in April 2025, rejected the court's jurisdiction and did not participate in the hearings — a ruling with major implications for India-Pakistan relations, water security, and international treaty law. Current affairsSupreme Court Issues Fresh Directions Against Digital Arrest Scams: RBI Ordered to Frame SOP on Mule Accounts Within Four WeeksThe Supreme Court of India has issued fresh nationwide directions to combat digital arrest scams, ordering the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to frame a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for handling mule bank accounts within four weeks, directing states to operationalise cyber fraud grievance mechanisms and e-Zero FIRs, and requiring the SOP to be shared with every High Court Registrar General. Complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal fell sharply from 1,23,672 in 2024 to 16,377 by June 30, 2026. Current affairsTribunals Reforms Bill, 2026: National Tribunal Commission, 16 Tribunals Covered, and India's Judicial Independence ArchitectureParliament passed the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026 (Lok Sabha: August 10; Rajya Sabha: August 11), creating an independent National Tribunal Commission (NTC) to govern appointments and administration across 16 tribunals in India. The Bill repeals the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, whose key provisions were struck down by the Supreme Court in November 2025 for violating judicial independence and the separation of powers doctrine. Current affairsSupreme Court Reduces Judicial Service Practice Requirement to 1 Year: Bhumika Trust Case 2026 — Complete UPSC GuideIn Bhumika Trust v. Union of India (August 21, 2026), a three-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant reduced the mandatory law practice requirement for Civil Judge (Junior Division) recruitment from three years to one year, introduced a transitional waiver for notifications issued up to March 31, 2027, and mandated structured Academy training plus a two-year clerkship for all fresh appointees. Current affairsThamirabarani River Declared a Legal Person: Madras High Court's Earth Jurisprudence RulingThe Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court (Justices G.R. Swaminathan and B. Pugalendhi) declared the Thamirabarani River a legal person on July 23, 2026, grounding the ruling in its status as a Hindu deity and banning all immersions and dumping in the river — the first such declaration in Tamil Nadu and a landmark development in India's Earth Jurisprudence. Current affairsTribunals Reforms Act 2026: National Tribunals Commission Ends Executive Control — Judicial Independence RestoredThe Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026 received Presidential assent on August 13, 2026, after passing both Houses of Parliament within a single day. It repeals the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 — key provisions of which the Supreme Court had struck down for violating separation of powers — and establishes a National Tribunals Commission (NTC) as an independent institutional mechanism for appointments, performance review, and oversight of tribunals across India.