News & Current Events

The Department of Homeland Security filed an emergency Supreme Court application on September 8 seeking to reinstate its expanded SAVE voter-roll verification process, which a federal district court blocked in June on Social Security Act, Privacy Act, and Administrative Procedure Act grounds. The expanded system differs from its predecessor by linking DHS and SSA data to process bulk voter-file inquiries using full or partial Social Security numbers, a capability now suspended. Chief Justice Roberts set a September 15 deadline for challengers to respond, establishing expedited handling but no guaranteed ruling before the midterm elections.

The September 6 collapse of a paying-guest accommodation in Delhi's Satya Niketan neighborhood has killed seven people and prompted the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to suspend five South Zone building officials and direct inspectors across all zones to submit structural reports by September 10. The Delhi High Court separately ordered MCD to inspect all paying-guest hostels within its jurisdiction within one week, covering construction permissions, bylaw compliance, and student occupancy counts. A Supreme Court bench has indicated it may transfer the High Court proceeding to itself as part of a broader pan-India review of unauthorized construction, though no formal transfer order has been issued.