One court system for the whole country
India has a single, unified judiciary. Every court in the country belongs to one pyramid, with the Supreme Court at the top.
This is unusual for a federation. The United States runs two parallel court systems — federal courts applying federal law, and state courts applying state law, meeting only at the top. India rejected that.
Here, the same court hears a case under a central law and a case under a state law. A district court in Punjab applies both. An appeal from it goes to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and from there to the Supreme Court. One ladder, not two.
A single system produces one interpretation of the law for the whole country. With parallel systems, the same central law could mean different things in different states for years before the top court resolved it. The framers had just built a country out of hundreds of separate units and wanted the law to hold the same meaning everywhere.
| Level | Court |
|---|---|
| Top | Supreme Court of India — one, at New Delhi |
| State | High Courts — 25, some serving more than one state or union territory |
| District | District and Sessions Courts, one or more per district |
| Below that | Civil and criminal courts of the first instance, and specialised tribunals |
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court sits in Part V, Articles 124 to 147. It began in 1950 with a Chief Justice and seven judges. Parliament has raised that number many times since.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Present strength | 34 — the Chief Justice and 33 other judges |
| Who fixes the number | Parliament, by ordinary law — it is not fixed in the Constitution |
| Appointed by | The President |
| Retirement age | 65 years |
| Qualification | Five years as a High Court judge, or ten years as a High Court advocate, or a distinguished jurist in the President's opinion |
The distinguished jurist route has never been used. No person has been appointed to the Supreme Court under that clause since the Constitution came into force.
How judges are appointed
Article 124 says judges are appointed by the President after consultation with such judges as the President thinks fit. The word that mattered was consultation — and the courts spent thirty years arguing about what it meant.
| Case | Year | What it decided |
|---|---|---|
| First Judges Case | 1981 | Consultation does not mean concurrence. The executive had primacy in appointments |
| Second Judges Case | 1993 | Consultation does mean concurrence. The Chief Justice's view is binding — this created the collegium |
| Third Judges Case | 1998 | The collegium is the Chief Justice plus four senior-most judges, acting together |
| NJAC struck down | 2015 | The 99th Amendment, which created a commission with government members, was held unconstitutional for violating judicial independence |
A body of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most Supreme Court judges which recommends appointments and transfers of judges. It appears nowhere in the Constitution — it was created by the Supreme Court's own interpretation of the word consultation in the 1993 judgment.
In 2014 Parliament passed the 99th Amendment, creating a National Judicial Appointments Commission with the Chief Justice, two senior judges, the Law Minister and two eminent persons. In 2015 the Supreme Court struck it down, holding that letting the executive into appointments violated the independence of the judiciary, part of the basic structure. The collegium was restored.
Removing a judge
A Supreme Court or High Court judge can be removed only by impeachment, on two grounds: proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The procedure is deliberately difficult.
- A motion signed by 100 Lok Sabha members or 50 Rajya Sabha members is submitted to the presiding officer
- If admitted, a three-member inquiry committee investigates — a Supreme Court judge, a High Court Chief Justice, and a distinguished jurist
- If the committee finds the charge proved, the motion is taken up by the House
- It must pass both Houses by a majority of total membership and a two-thirds majority of members present and voting
- The President then issues the removal order
No judge has ever been removed in India. Justice V. Ramaswami came closest in 1993 — the inquiry committee found the charges proved, but the motion failed in the Lok Sabha when the ruling party abstained.
What the Supreme Court can hear
The Court's jurisdiction comes in five forms, and the distinctions are asked directly.
| Jurisdiction | Article | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Original | 131 | Disputes between the Centre and states, or between states — these come straight to the Supreme Court, not on appeal |
| Writ | 32 | Enforcement of Fundamental Rights — any person may approach directly |
| Appellate | 132–134 | Appeals from High Courts in constitutional, civil and criminal matters |
| Advisory | 143 | The President may seek the Court's opinion on a question of law or fact of public importance |
| Special Leave | 136 | The Court may grant leave to appeal from any judgment of any court or tribunal in India |
The Supreme Court's advisory opinion under Article 143 is not binding on the President, and the Court may refuse to answer. It has declined at least once — in the Ayodhya reference of 1993.
Article 136, the special leave petition, is the widest power any court in the world holds. The Court may hear an appeal from any judgment of any court or tribunal, on any subject, at its own discretion — with one exception, courts martial.
Judicial review
Judicial review is the power of a court to examine a law and declare it void if it conflicts with the Constitution.
This is what makes Fundamental Rights real. A right the government could remove by ordinary legislation would be no right at all. Article 13 states directly that any law inconsistent with Part III is void — and it is the courts that decide when that has happened.
The power to test a law against the Constitution and strike it down if it fails. The Indian Constitution does not use the phrase, but Articles 13, 32, 131 to 136, 143, 226 and 246 together create it. The idea was borrowed from the United States.
The most important product of judicial review is the basic structure doctrine, laid down in Kesavananda Bharati (1973). Parliament may amend the Constitution, but cannot destroy features that form its basic structure — judicial review itself being one of them.
The High Courts
Every state has a High Court, though some are shared. There are 25 in all, covering 28 states and 8 union territories.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Articles | 214 to 231 |
| Appointed by | The President |
| Retirement age | 62 years — three years earlier than the Supreme Court |
| Strength | Not fixed — the President determines the number for each High Court |
| Writ power | Article 226, wider than the Supreme Court's under Article 32 |
Article 32 lets the Supreme Court issue writs only to enforce Fundamental Rights. Article 226 lets a High Court issue writs for Fundamental Rights and for any other legal purpose. So on writs, the High Court has the broader jurisdiction — even though the Supreme Court is the higher court.
The oldest High Courts are Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, all established in 1862 under the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 — nearly ninety years before the Constitution.
Public interest litigation
Ordinarily only the person whose right was violated can go to court. Public interest litigation relaxed that rule.
From the late 1970s the Supreme Court began allowing any public-spirited person to file on behalf of someone unable to approach the court themselves — prisoners, bonded labourers, the very poor. The Court has even treated a letter or a newspaper report as a petition.
PIL grew out of the relaxation of locus standi — the rule about who has standing to sue. Justices P.N. Bhagwati and V.R. Krishna Iyer are most associated with the development.
Important articles
The articles that carry the judiciary.
| Article | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Article 124 | Establishment of the Supreme Court, appointment and removal of judges |
| Article 125 | Salaries of Supreme Court judges |
| Article 129 | The Supreme Court is a court of record with power to punish for contempt |
| Article 131 | Original jurisdiction — Centre-state and inter-state disputes |
| Article 132–134 | Appellate jurisdiction in constitutional, civil and criminal matters |
| Article 136 | Special leave to appeal from any court or tribunal |
| Article 137 | Review of its own judgments |
| Article 141 | Supreme Court law is binding on all courts in India |
| Article 143 | Advisory jurisdiction — the President may seek its opinion |
| Article 214 | High Court for each state |
| Article 217 | Appointment of High Court judges |
| Article 226 | High Court writ power — wider than Article 32 |
| Article 227 | High Court superintendence over all subordinate courts |
| Article 13 | Laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights are void |
124 to 147 is the Supreme Court. 214 to 231 is the High Courts. And the numbers that matter most in between — 131 original, 136 special leave, 141 binding precedent, 143 advisory, 226 High Court writs.
Justice H.J. Kania was the first Chief Justice of India. Justice Fathima Beevi became the first woman judge of the Supreme Court in 1989, and Justice Leila Seth the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court.
The Supreme Court replaced the Federal Court, which had operated from 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935. Appeals used to go from there to the Privy Council in London — a route abolished in 1949.
Article 129 makes the Supreme Court a court of record. Its proceedings are preserved as evidence and cannot be questioned, and it can punish for contempt of itself.
Which court has the wider writ jurisdiction, and why?
A High Court. Article 226 covers Fundamental Rights and any other legal right, while Article 32 confines the Supreme Court to Fundamental Rights alone.
Is the collegium mentioned in the Constitution?
No. It was created by the Supreme Court in the Second Judges Case of 1993, by interpreting the word consultation in Article 124 to mean concurrence.
Everything on one look
The court structure, appointment fights, jurisdictions and the powers that get asked.
- Supreme Court — Articles 124 to 147
- High Courts — Articles 214 to 231
- 34 judges in the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice
- 25 High Courts in India
- Supreme Court judges retire at 65, High Court judges at 62
- The collegium is the Chief Justice and four senior-most judges
- Removal needs 100 Lok Sabha or 50 Rajya Sabha signatures
- First Judges Case (1981) — consultation is not concurrence
- Second Judges Case (1993) — consultation means concurrence; collegium created
- Third Judges Case (1998) — collegium is CJI plus four
- NJAC struck down (2015) — judicial independence is basic structure
- Kesavananda Bharati (1973) — the basic structure doctrine
- India has a single unified judiciary, unlike the twin court systems of the United States
- The number of Supreme Court judges is fixed by Parliament, not by the Constitution
- High Court writ power under Article 226 is wider than the Supreme Court's under Article 32
- Supreme Court judges retire at 65; High Court judges retire at 62
- The collegium is not in the Constitution — it came from the 1993 judgment
- The NJAC was struck down in 2015 for violating judicial independence
- An advisory opinion under Article 143 is not binding, and the Court may refuse to give one
- No judge has ever been removed in India, though Justice V. Ramaswami came close in 1993
- The distinguished jurist route to the Supreme Court has never been used
- Article 141 makes Supreme Court decisions binding on all other courts, but not on itself
- Articles 124 to 147 of the Constitution deal with the Supreme Court
- Articles 214 to 231 deal with the High Courts
- India has a single unified judiciary, with one hierarchy of courts for central and state law alike
- The Supreme Court has 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India
- Parliament fixes the number of Supreme Court judges by ordinary law
- Supreme Court judges retire at 65 and High Court judges retire at 62
- There are 25 High Courts in India, some serving more than one state
- The collegium consists of the Chief Justice and the four senior-most judges
- The collegium is not mentioned in the Constitution — it came from the Second Judges Case of 1993
- The NJAC was struck down in 2015 for violating the independence of the judiciary
- A judge can be removed only for proved misbehaviour or incapacity
- A removal motion needs 100 Lok Sabha members or 50 Rajya Sabha members to sign it
- No judge has ever been removed from office in India
- Article 131 gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over Centre-state disputes
- Article 136 allows the Supreme Court to grant special leave to appeal from any court or tribunal
- Article 141 makes Supreme Court decisions binding on all courts in India
- Article 143 lets the President seek the Supreme Court's advisory opinion, which is not binding
- Article 226 gives High Courts a wider writ power than Article 32 gives the Supreme Court
- Article 13 declares void any law inconsistent with the Fundamental Rights
- Kesavananda Bharati (1973) established that Parliament cannot destroy the basic structure
- Public interest litigation grew from the relaxation of the rule on who may approach a court
- Justice H.J. Kania was the first Chief Justice of India
- Justice Fathima Beevi became the first woman judge of the Supreme Court in 1989
- The Supreme Court replaced the Federal Court, which had functioned from 1937
- Appeals to the Privy Council in London were abolished in 1949
- Article 129 makes the Supreme Court a court of record with power to punish for contempt
- The Supreme Court sits in New Delhi, though Article 130 allows it to sit elsewhere
- A retired Supreme Court judge cannot practise before any court in India