Discuss the structure and functions of the Supreme Court of India.
Introduction: The Supreme Court is at the apex of India's pyramid-like unitary judiciary. The Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the country.
Constitution of the Supreme Court of India: The original constitution provided for the constitution of the Supreme Court with 1 Chief Justice and not more than 7 judges. According to an Act enacted in 2011, the Supreme Court currently consists of 1 Chief Justice and 30 other judges, i.e. a total of 31 judges. But currently (2019) the total number of active judges is 29.
Appointment: The President appoints the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and other judges are appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice.
Eligibility: To be a candidate for the post of Supreme Court Judge, he/she must [i] be a citizen of India; [ii] Must have served as a Judge in a High Court for at least 5 years; or, [iii] must have practiced as an advocate in any High Court for 10 consecutive years; Or, [iv] according to the President, he must be a distinguished jurist.
Tenure: Judges of the Supreme Court can hold office till the age of 65 years.
Removal: The President may remove judges with the support of a majority of the members present and voting in both houses of Parliament on allegations of proven misconduct or incapacity.
Proceedings of the Supreme Court of India
The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court can be divided into four areas-[a] substantive areas; [b] Appellate Area; [c] mentoring area; [d] Area of issue of directions, orders or writs.
[a] Core area: Core area falls within-
[i] Disputes between the Central Government and one or more Member-State Governments;
[ii] Disputes between the Central Government and one or more State Governments with other or one or more State Governments;
[iii] Disputes between two or more State Governments are tried in the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court;
[iv] Disputes over the election of the President and Vice-President are settled by the Supreme Court – this also falls within the core area.
[b] Appellate Area: The highest appellate court in India is the Supreme Court. Appellate jurisdiction refers to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to entertain appeals against the judgment of any subordinate court. The four types of appeals that can be filed in the Supreme Court are-
[i] Appeals on interpretation of the Constitution: If the High Court gives a writ of certiorari in a civil or criminal or any other case or if the Supreme Court considers that the case involves a question of interpretation of the Constitution, the matter is referred to the Supreme Court for determination.
[ii] Civil Appeal: In a civil case, if the High Court certifies that the case involves important questions of law, then an appeal can be made to the Supreme Court.
[iii] Criminal Appeal: In a criminal case an appeal can be made to the Supreme Court against the judgment of the High Court in three cases-
If the High Court sentences a person to death who was found innocent in the lower court;
If the High Court takes a case into its own hands and sentences the person concerned to death during the trial in the lower court;
If the High Court certifies that the case is appealable to the Supreme Court.
[iv] Appeal by Special Leave: The Supreme Court can grant special leave to appeal against any judgment, order and sentence of any court in India. The Supreme Court grants such permission for justice and to meet special circumstances.
[c] Advisory Area: The Supreme Court provides advice when the President seeks the advice of the Supreme Court on any question of law as per Article 143(1) of the Constitution.
[d] Area of issuing directions, orders or writs: Supreme Court can issue 5 types of writs to protect the fundamental rights of citizens of India. These are [i] prisoner visualization; [ii] Paradise; [iii] sanctions; [iv] Right- Page; [v] Expulsion.
other works
[i] The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal. Because all legal and judicial proceedings related documents are kept here.
[ii] The Court may punish the person concerned for contempt of the Supreme Court.
[iii] Supreme Court is vested with the power to appoint employees necessary for the proper performance of its functions. Apart from this, the Supreme Court performs various functions.
Assessment: In conclusion, while not as strong as the US Supreme Court, the Indian Supreme Court is not as weak as the British Judiciary. Its role has been further expanded in the context of the Supreme Court's historic judgments in recent public interest cases. Along with this, the role of the Supreme Court in preventing the corruption of public representatives and bureaucrats has been appreciated by the public.
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