On January 10, a Supreme Court division bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha refused to grant an urgent hearing in the petition seeking the Court's intervention in the sinking of land in Uttarakhand's hill town of Joshimath. The bench stated that in a democratic country, everything that is urgent does not need to be brought before the court because there are democratically elected institutions to investigate it.

"In a democratic country everything of urgency does not have to come to court. There are democratically elected institutions to look into it," the CJI remarked. As a result, the Court set the matter for hearing on January 16. Joshimathi, which has a population of around 17,000 people, is located in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district at a height of 1,800 metres above sea level.

Joshimath has been declared disaster-prone after cracks in buildings and roads began to appear. Following that, many people were evacuated.