Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India is the apex supreme judicial body, which has the power of judicial review. It consists of a maximum of 34 judges and the Chief Justice of India is the head and chief judge of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court settles disputes between various government authorities as well as the central government vs state governments. Also, being the advisory court, the apex court hears matters which may specifically be referred to it under the constitution by the President of India. On January 28, 1950, the Supreme Court 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 Supreme Court moved to its present premises in 1958 and the first Chief Justice of India was H J Kania. It was constituted as per Chapter IV of the Part V of Constitution of India. Former President Dr Rajendra Prasad laid the foundation stone of the Supreme Court's building on October 29, 1954. Designed in an Indo-British style by the chief architect Ganesh Bhikaji Deolalikar, the Supreme Court has a 27.6 metre high dome and a spacious colonnaded verandah. Apart from this, two new wings – the East Wing and the West Wing – were added to the complex in 1979. Also, a black bronze sculpture of 210 cm height was installed in the lawn of the complex in 1980, portraying Mother India in the form of the figure of a lady. This sculpture is just behind the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. According to Article 124 of the Constitution, a citizen of India not exceeding 65 years of age can be a judge if he or she has served as a judge of one high court or more for over 5 years or been an advocate for at least 10 years. Since February 5, 2018, the Supreme Court has decided to follow a new roster system for allocation of matters to judges. The current incumbent Chief Justice of India is NV Ramana who took office on April 24, 2021. More