Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial court and the final court of
appeal under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the
power of judicial review.
India is a federal State and has a single and unified judicial system with three tier
structure, i.e. Supreme Court, High Courts and Subordinate Courts.
After India attained independence in 1947, the Constitution of India came into being
on 26 January 1950. The Supreme Court of India also came into existence and its
first sitting was held on 28 January 1950.

Composition of the Supreme Court

Article 124(1) and Amendment act of 2008 states that there shall be a Supreme Court of
India consisting of a Chief justice of India (CJI) and 34 judges including the CJI.

Removal

The Constitution states that Justices "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour." This
means that the Justices hold office as long as they choose and can only be removed from office
by impeachment.Each house of the parliament must pass resolutions against the judge with 2/3
mejority,on receipt of the resolution from each house, the president issues an order of removal
Qualification of judges

1. He should be a citizen of India

2. He should have been judge of a high court for five years; or He should have been
an advocate of a high court for ten years
3. He should be distinguished jurist in the opinion of the President

Oath: It is administered by the President of India or some person appointed by him for this
purpose
Tenure of judges

 He holds office until he attains the age of 65 years. Any questions pertaining to his
age will be determined by such authority as decided by Parliament
 He can resign his office by writing to the President
 He can be removed from his office by the President on the recommendation of the
Parliament
Salaries and allowances of the judges

 They are determined by the parliament

 The salaries and emoluments of the judges cannot be varied to their disadvantage
after their appointment except during the financial emergency
 The CJI receives a monthly salary of Rs 2.80 lakh.
 Supreme Court judges all receive a monthly salary of Rs 2.50 lakh.

Location of supreme court : new delhi

Power and functions of supreme court

1. Original jurisdiction: There are certain cases which fall within the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It means that all such cases begin or originate in
the Supreme Court, only. It also means that such cases cannot be initiated in any
other court. The cases or disputes that come under the original jurisdiction are
given below:

 Disputes between the Government of India on the one side and one or more States
on the other side.
 Disputes between the Government of India and one or more States on one side and
one or more States on the other side.
 Disputes between two or more States.

However, this jurisdiction does not extend in the following situations:

 A dispute arising out of any pre-Constitution treaty, agreement, covenant,

engagement, sanad or other similar instrument.
 A dispute arising out of any treaty, agreement, etc., which specifically provides
that the said jurisdiction does not extent to such a dispute.
 Inter-state water disputes.
 Matters referred to the Finance Commission.
 Adjustment of certain expenses and pensions between the Centre and the states.
 Ordinary dispute of Commercial nature between the Centre and the states.
 Recovery of damages by a state against the Centre.

Writ Jurisdiction:
  SC is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature
of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce
them.
 The aggrieved citizen can approach the SC directly and not as a way of appeal
 However, this jurisdiction is not exclusive to the SC since the constitution
empowers the HC to also issue write
 Also, the writ jurisdiction of the SC is narrower than HC since HC can issue writs
even for the enforcement of legal rights while SC can only issue them when an
individuals’ fundamental right has been violated

Appellate jurisdiction: It appears appeals against the judgment of lower courts. It enjoys a wide
appellate jurisdiction
Appeals in civil cases

 Disputes relating to property, marriage, money, contract and service etc are called
civil cases. If a civil case involves a substantial point of law of public importance
needing interpretatation of the Constitution or law, an appeal against the High
Court decision can be made to Supreme Court.
 Earlier the financial limit of such civil cases was Rs. 20,000/ – but now according
to the 30th Amendment of 1972, there is no minimum amount for taking a civil
appeal to the Supreme Court. If substantial question of interpretation of law or
Constitution is involved, appeal may be made against the decision of the High
Court.

Appeals in criminal cases: An appeal may be brought to the Supreme Court against a High
Court decision in a criminal case in a number of situations.

 Firstly, if a High Court sets aside an appeal or an order of acquittal passed by a

lower court and awards death sentence to the accused, he may bring an appeal to
the Supreme Court by right.
 Secondly, appeal can also be made to the Supreme Court if the High Court
withdraws a case from a lower court to itself, declares the accused guilty and
awards death sentence. In this situation also appeals can be made as a matter of
right and without certificate from the High Court.
 The appeal in cases other than these two categories may also be brought to the
Supreme Court provided the High Court grants a certificate that the case is fit for
appeal to the Supreme Court. In case where the High Court refuses to certify a
 case to be fit for appeal to the Supreme Court, one may seek special leave to
appeal from the Supreme Court itself. The Supreme Court may grant such a special
leave in its discretion but only in rare cases.

Appeals in constitutional cases

 A constitutional case is neither a civil dispute, nor concerning a crime. It is a case

arising out of different interpretations of Constitution, mainly regarding the
fundamental rights. In such Constitutional Cases an appeal can be taken to the
Supreme Court only if a High Court certifies that the matter in dispute involves a
substantial question of law.
 If the High Court denies a certificate of fitness to appeal to the Supreme Court, the
Supreme Court can use its discretion and grant special leave to appeal to itself in
any case it deems fit.

Appeal by special leave: SC is authorized to grant in its discretion special leave to appeal from
any judgment in any matter passed by any court or tribunal in the country (except in the case of
military tribunal). Some of the aspects related to this power are:

 It is a discretionary power and hence cannot be claimed as a matter of right

 It can be granted in any judgment- final or interlocutory
 It can be related to any matter
 It can be granted against any court (except the military tribunal)

Advisory jurisdiction: The Constitution under Article 143 authorizes the President to seek the
opinion of the Supreme Court in the two categories of matters:

1. On any question of law or fact of public importance which has arisen or which is
likely to arise.
2. On any dispute arising out of any pre-constitution treaty, agreement, covenant,
engagement, sanad or other similar instruments.

 The court may refuse to give its advice on the first matter, while it is bound to give
advice in the second matter
 In case, the advice or the opinion of the Court is sent to the President, he may or
may not accept it. The advice of the Court is not binding on the President. So far,
whenever the Court has given its advice, the President has always accepted it.
Court of Record

 It entails recording the judgments, proceedings and acts of high courts for
perpetual memory.
 It has power to punish for contempt of court. This power can be exercised even in
cases where contempt has been shown towards high court or a tribunal or any other
court in India

Contempt of Court:
While the basic idea of a contempt law is to punish those who do not respect the orders of the
courts, in the Indian context, contempt is also used to punish speech that lowers the dignity of the
court and interferes with the administration of justice.
Contempt of court can be of two kinds:

1. Civil, which is the willful disobedience of a court order or judgment or willful

breach of an undertaking given to a court.
2. Criminal, that is written or spoken words or any act that scandalizes the court or
lowers its authority or prejudices or interferes with the due course of a judicial
proceeding or interferes/obstructs the administration of justice.