NEW DELHI — Following the headlines, you might get the feeling that India’s Supreme Court is everywhere at once, all the time. You wouldn’t be far off.

On Thursday, the court struck down a colonial-era law making adultery a crime. Just the day before, the judges tactically pruned back the country’s sweeping Aadhaar national ID program to reflect privacy concerns. Earlier this month, it overturned a ban on gay sex that had stood for 150 years.

The court is one of the most vital institutions in a vast and chaotic democracy of 1.3 billion people, weighing in on wild dogs, killer tigers, mob lynchings, garbage dumps and Muslim divorce rules — hot potatoes that Indian politicians won’t touch.

It loves juicy social debates, often siding with victims and wielding dramatically worded rulings designed to capture maximum attention. (In a recent case about a young woman pushed to suicide by a suitor, it ruled that “No one can compel a woman to love.”)