As the apex constitutional court, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the High Courts
of various states and tribunals. As an advisory court, it hears matters which are referred by the
President of India. Under judicial review, the court invalidates both normal laws as well as
constitutional amendments that violate the Basic structure doctrine. It is required to safeguard
the fundamental rights of citizens and settles legal disputes among the central government and
various state governments.
Its decisions are binding on other Indian courts as well as the union and state governments.[6]
As per the Article 142 of the Constitution, the court is conferred with the inherent jurisdiction to
pass any order deemed necessary in the interest of complete justice which becomes binding on
the President to enforce.[7] The Supreme Court replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council as the highest court of appeal since 28 January 1950, two days after India was declared
a republic.
Empowered by the Indian Constitution with expansive authority to initiate actions and wield
appellate jurisdiction over all courts within the nation along with the pivotal ability to review
constitutional amendments, underscoring its significant role in the legal landscape of the
country, the Supreme Court of India is widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful
supreme courts in the world. .[8][9]
History
In 1861, the Indian High Courts Act 1861 was enacted to create high courts for various
provinces and abolish Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay and also the sadar
adalats in presidency towns in their respective regions. These new high courts had the
distinction of being the highest courts for all cases till the creation of the Federal Court of India
under the Government of India Act 1935. The Federal Court had the jurisdiction to solve
disputes between provinces and federal states and hear appeals against judgement of the high
courts. The first CJI of India was H. J. Kania.[6]
The Supreme Court of India came into existence on 28 January 1950.[10] It replaced both the
Federal Court of India and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which were then at the
apex of the Indian court system. The first proceedings and inauguration, however, took place on
28 January 1950 at 9:45 am, when the judges took their seats; which is thus regarded as the
official date of establishment.[11]
The Supreme Court initially had its seat at the Chamber of Princes in the parliament building
where the previous Federal Court of India sat from 1937 to 1950. The first Chief Justice of India
was H. J. Kania. In 1958, the Supreme Court moved to its present premises.[10] Originally, the
Constitution of India envisaged a supreme court with a chief justice and seven judges; leaving it
to Parliament to increase this number. In its formative years, the Supreme Court met from 10 to
12 in the morning and then from 2 to 4 in the afternoon for 28 days per month.
The emblem of the Supreme Court represents the Lion capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, with a
topmost wheel featuring 32 spokes.[12]
Jurisdiction and Powers of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India was constituted as per Chapter IV of Part V of the Constitution of
India. The fourth Chapter of the Indian Constitution is " The Union Judiciary". Under this
Chapter, the Supreme Court of India is vested with all Jurisdiction.
As per Article 124, The Supreme Court of India had been Constituted and Established.
As per Article 129, the Supreme Court is to be the Court of Record.
As per Article 131, the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is authorized.
As per Articles 132, 133 and 134, Appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is authorized.
Under Article 135, the Federal Court's Power is given to the Supreme Court.
Article 136 deals with the Special leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court.
Article 137 explains the Review Power of the Supreme Court.
Article 138 deals with the Enlargement of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Article 139 deals with the Conferment on the Supreme Court of powers to issue certain writs.
Article 140 gives Ancillary powers to the Supreme Court.
Article 141 of the Constitution gives the Law making power of the Supreme Court .
The law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all courts in the country.[13]
Members of Collegium
Presently, the Members of Collegium are:
Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud
Justice Sanjiv Khanna
Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai
Justice Surya Kant
Justice Aniruddha Bose
Court building architecture
Central Wing of the court where the chief justice's courtroom is located
The building is shaped to symbolize scales of justice with its centre-beam being the Central
Wing of the building, consisting of the Chief Justice's court, the largest of the courtrooms, with
two court halls on either side. The Right Wing of the structure has the Bar, consisting of rooms,
the offices of the Attorney General of India and other law officers and the library of the court.
The Left Wing has the offices of the court. In all, there are 15 courtrooms in the various wings of
the building.[6][10]
Left side of the Supreme Court building
The foundation stone of the Supreme Court's building was laid on 29 October 1954 by Rajendra
Prasad, the first President of India. The main block of the building has been built on a triangular
plot of 17 acres and has been designed in an Indo-British style by the chief architect Ganesh
Bhikaji Deolalikar, the first Indian to head the Central Public Works Department. It has a 27.6 m
(90 ft 7 in) high dome and a spacious colonnaded verandah. The court moved into the building
in 1958. In 1979, two new wings – the East Wing and the West Wing – were added to the
complex. 1994 saw the last extension.[10]
Mother and Child Sculpture
Mother and Child Sculpture
On 20 February 1980, a black bronze sculpture of 210 cm (6 ft 11 in) height was installed in the
lawn of the Supreme Court. It portrays Mother India in the form of the figure of a lady, sheltering
the young Republic of India represented by the symbol of a child, who is upholding the laws of
land symbolically shown in the form of an open book. On the book, a balance beam is shown,
which represents dispensation of equal justice to all. The sculpture was made by the renowned
artist Chintamoni Kar. The sculpture is just behind the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.[citation
needed]
Seal
The design of the Court's seal is reproduced from the wheel that appears on the Sarnath Lion capital of
Ashoka with 24 spokes. The inscription in Sanskrit, "यतो धर्मस्ततो जयः" (IAST: Yato Dharmastato Jayaḥ,)
means "whence justice (dharma), thence victory". It is also referred as the wheel of righteousness,
encompassing truth, goodness and equity.[6]
Constitution of the Court
Registry
The registry of the Supreme Court is headed by the Secretary-General, who is currently
assisted by 10 registrars, several additional and deputy registrars,[14] etc. Article 146 of the
Constitution deals with the appointments of officers and servants of the Supreme Court registry.
[15][16]
Supreme Court advocates
Main article: Advocates-on-Record
Supreme Court Rules, 2013 entitle only those advocates who are registered with the Supreme
Court, called advocates-on-record to appear, act and plead for a party in the court.[17] Those
advocates who are designated as 'senior advocates' by the Supreme Court or any of the high
courts can appear for clients along with an advocate-on-record. Any other advocate can appear
for a party along with or under instructions from an advocate-on-record.
Composition
Size of the court
Initially, the Constitution of India provided for a Supreme Court with a chief justice and 7 judges.
In the early years, a full bench of the Supreme Court sat together to hear the cases presented
before them. As the work of the Court increased and cases began to accumulate, Parliament
increased the number of judges (including the Chief Justice) from the original 8 in 1950 to 11 in
1956, 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26 in 1986, 31 in 2009, to 34 in 2019. As the number of the judges
has increased, they sit in smaller benches of two or three (referred to as a division bench)[18]—
coming together in larger benches of five or more (referred to as a constitution bench) when
required to settle fundamental questions of law. A bench may refer a case before it to a larger
bench, should the need arise.[19]
The largest-ever bench at the Supreme Court of India has been constituted in 1973 in
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala. A bench of 13 judges was set up to decide whether
Parliament had the unfettered right to amend the Constitution, which eventually gave rise to the
Basic Structure doctrine.
Eligibility of a judge of the Supreme Court
A citizen of India not exceeding 65 years age per Article 124 of the Constitution who has been:
a judge of one high court or more (continuously), for at least five years,
an advocate there, for at least ten years,
a distinguished jurist, in the opinion of the president, power conferred by clause 2 of article 124
of the Constitution of India
is eligible to be recommended for appointment, a judge of the Supreme Court.[20]
Court demographics
I am proud to be an Indian. India is the only country where a member of the minority Parsi
community with a population of 1,67,000, like myself, can aspire to attain the post of the Chief
Justice of India. These things do not happen in our neighbouring countries.
— Former Chief Justice of India, S. H. Kapadia, [21][22]
In practice, judges of the Supreme Court have been selected so far, mostly from amongst
judges of the high courts. Barely nine justices—S. M. Sikri, S. Chandra Roy, Kuldip Singh,
Santosh Hegde, R. F. Nariman, U. U. Lalit, L. Nageswara Rao, Indu Malhotra and P. S.
Narasimha—have been appointed to the Supreme Court directly from the bar (i.e., who were
practising advocates).[23][24]
The Supreme Court saw its first woman judge when Justice M. Fathima Beevi was sworn into
office in 1989.[25][26][27]
In 1968, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah became the first Muslim Chief Justice of India. In
2007, Justice K. G. Balakrishnan became the first judge as well as the Chief Justice of India
from the dalit community. In 2010, Justice S. H. Kapadia coming from a Parsi minority
community became the Chief Justice of India.[21][28] In 2017, Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar
became the first Sikh Chief Justice of India. Justice Indu Malhotra is the first and only woman
judge to be selected directly from the bar.
