60-second revision
- Article 124 establishes the Supreme Court; its sanctioned strength is 38 judges including the CJI (raised from 34 in 2026).
- SC judges retire at 65; High Court judges at 62 (raised from 60 by the 15th Amendment, 1963).
- Judges are removed by the President after an address by each House passed by special majority, for proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
- Collegium system: Second Judges case (1993); NJAC (99th Amendment) struck down in 2015.
- Article 131: original jurisdiction in Centre–state and inter-state disputes; Article 143: advisory opinion (not binding).
- Article 226 (High Court writs) is wider than Article 32: it covers "any other purpose" too.
- Ad hoc judges: appointed by the CJI with the President's previous consent (Article 127).
- Lok Adalats are statutory under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987; no appeal lies against their awards.
An integrated judiciary
India has a single, integrated hierarchy of courts: the Supreme Court at the top, High Courts in the states, and subordinate courts below them. The same courts enforce both central and state laws, unlike the dual court system of the USA. This design came largely from the Government of India Act, 1935.
Supreme Court: composition and appointment
- Article 124 establishes the Supreme Court. It was inaugurated on 28 January 1950, replacing the Federal Court.
- Originally the CJI and 7 other judges. Parliament can increase the number by law; it was raised to 34 including the CJI in 2019 and to 38 in 2026 (Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2026).
- Qualifications (Article 124(3)): citizen of India and either five years as a High Court judge, or ten years as a High Court advocate, or a distinguished jurist in the President's opinion. There is no minimum age.
- Judges retire at 65. A retired Supreme Court judge cannot plead in any court in India.
- Salaries are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India (not voted on) and cannot be cut to their disadvantage after appointment, except in a Financial Emergency.
- Acting CJI: Article 126. Ad hoc judges: Article 127, appointed by the CJI with the previous consent of the President when there is no quorum of permanent judges. Retired judges may be requested to sit: Article 128.
- The seat is in Delhi; the CJI may, with the President's approval, decide to hold sittings elsewhere (Article 130).
The Judges cases and the collegium
| Case | Holding |
|---|---|
| First Judges case (S. P. Gupta, 1981) | "Consultation" with the CJI did not mean concurrence; the executive had primacy. |
| Second Judges case (1993) | Overruled the first; created the collegium, giving the judiciary primacy in appointments. |
| Third Judges case (1998, advisory opinion) | Collegium of the CJI and the four senior-most judges for Supreme Court appointments. |
| Fourth Judges case (2015) | Struck down the 99th Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) as violating judicial independence. |
Removal of judges
A Supreme Court judge can be removed only by an order of the President after an address by each House of Parliament in the same session, supported by a special majority: a majority of the total membership and two-thirds of members present and voting (Article 124(4)). The grounds are proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The procedure is set out in the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968. High Court judges are removed the same way. The conduct of a judge cannot be discussed in Parliament except on such a motion (Article 121).
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
| Type | Article | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Original | 131 | Disputes between the Centre and states or between states. Exclusive: no other court can hear them. |
| Writ | 32 | Enforcement of Fundamental Rights through writs. |
| Appellate | 132–134, 136 | Appeals in constitutional, civil and criminal cases; special leave to appeal from any court or tribunal (Article 136). |
| Advisory | 143 | The President may refer a question of law or fact; the opinion is not binding on the President. |
| Court of record | 129 | Its records have evidentiary value and it can punish for contempt of itself. |
| Review | 137 | Can review its own judgments. |
Article 141 makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts in India, and Article 142 lets it pass any order needed to do complete justice. A reference under Article 143 and any case involving a substantial question of constitutional interpretation must be heard by a bench of at least five judges (Article 145(3)).
High Courts
- Article 214: a High Court for each state; the 7th Amendment allowed a common High Court for two or more states (Article 231). The Calcutta, Bombay and Madras High Courts, set up in 1862, are the oldest.
- Appointment (Article 217): by the President after consulting the CJI and the Governor, and the High Court Chief Justice for other judges; in practice through the collegium.
- Qualifications: citizen and either ten years in a judicial office in India or ten years as a High Court advocate. There is no "distinguished jurist" route.
- Retirement at 62. Salaries are charged on the Consolidated Fund of the state; pensions on the Consolidated Fund of India.
- Article 226: High Courts can issue writs to enforce Fundamental Rights and also "for any other purpose", so their writ power is wider than the Supreme Court's under Article 32. Article 227 gives superintendence over courts and tribunals in their area.
- A retired High Court judge may plead in the Supreme Court and in other High Courts, but not in the court where he served.
Access to justice
- Public Interest Litigation took shape in the late 1970s and early 1980s through judges such as V. R. Krishna Iyer and P. N. Bhagwati, who relaxed the rule that only an affected person can approach the court.
- Lok Adalats got statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, which also set up NALSA. A Lok Adalat award is deemed a civil court decree and no appeal lies against it.
- Gram Nyayalayas were set up under the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 for speedy justice at the grassroots.
- District judges are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the High Court (Article 233).
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