The Supreme Court plays a unique role in the\nscheme of Constitutional government in the country as the highest appellate\njudicial authority and the final interpreter of the Constitution as well as the\nguardian of our Fundamental Rights. Although the Constitution establishes a\nFederal System of Government, unlike many other countries with Federal\nConstitutions, India has a single judicial system which has brought about not\nonly jurisdictional unity, but also the establishment of a single judicial\ncadre, as it were, for the whole country. With the Supreme Court at its apex,\nthe Indian Judiciary is a fully integrated system under which the writ of the\nSupreme Court runs not only all over the country\u2014in Central, State and local\nareas\u2014but also within all fields of law\u2014Constitutional, civil and criminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Constitution envisages an indepen\u00addent\nSupreme Court. The independence of the judges is ensured by the following\nprovisions (Article 124):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(1) Every judge of the Supreme Court is\nappointed by the President of India after consultation with such judges of the\nSupreme Court and of High Courts of the States as the President may deem\nnecessary for the purpose. But in the appointment of a judge, other than a\nChief Justice, consultation with the Chief Justice of India by the President is\nobligatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(2) The elimination of politics in the\nappointment of judges is further achieved by prescribing the minimum\nqualifications in the Constitution itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(3) A judge of the Supreme Court, once\nappointed, holds office until he completes the age of sixty-five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(4) A retired judge is prohibited from\npractising law before any court in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(5) A Supreme Court judge can be removed from\noffice by an order of the President only on the grounds of proved misbehaviour\nor incapacity after a resolution for the purpose is passed by both Houses of\nParliament supported by a majority of the total membership of the House and a\nmajority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(6) The conditions of service of a judge cannot\nbe altered to his disadvantage after his appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(7) The independence of the judges is further\nsafeguarded by making all their actions and decisions taken in their official\ncapacity, immune from criticism and also providing for an establishment over\nwhich the Court has complete control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qualifications : <\/strong>Article 124(3) provides for the qualifications required for\nappointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court. The qualifications are :<\/p>\n\n\n\n (a) The person should be a citizen of India; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n (b) He\/She should have been for at least five\nyears a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or<\/p>\n\n\n\n (c) He\/She has been for at least ten years an\nadvocate of a High Court or of two or more such courts in succession; or<\/p>\n\n\n\n (d) He\/She is, in the opinion of the President,\na distinguished jurist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no minimum age\nprescribed for being appointed as Judge of a Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenure : <\/strong>A person appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court holds office until\nhe attains the age of sixty-five years, provided that<\/p>\n\n\n\n (a) A judge may, by writing under his hand\naddressed to the President, resign his office prior to attainment of age of\nsixty-five years; Or<\/p>\n\n\n\n (b) A judge may be removed from his office by an\norder of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament\nsupported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority\nof not less than two-thirds of the members of the House present and voting has\nbeen presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the\nground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jurisdiction : <\/strong>The Supreme Court enjoys three types of jurisdiction\u2014original,\nappellate and advisory. The Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction\nin any dispute between (a) the Government of India and one or more States; or\n(b) between the Government of India and any State or States on the one side and\none or more States on the other; or (c) between two or more States. The Court\nhas four types of appellate jurisdictions: Constitutional, civil, criminal and\nspecial. In any case which involves an interpretation of the Constitution, the\nappellate jurisdiction of the Court can be invoked. Further, in civil cases the\nCourt\u2019s jurisdiction can be invoked if the High Court certifies that the case\ninvolves a substantial question of law of general importance. In the criminal\nfield, the jurisdiction of the Court can be invoked only if a High Court has on\nappeal reversed an order of acquittal of an accused person and sentenced him to\ndeath, or has withdrawn for trial before itself any case from any court\nsubordinate to its authority and has in such trial convicted the accused person\nand sentenced him to death, or certifies that the case is a fit one for appeal\nto the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Article 136 of the Constitution, the\nSupreme Court is empowered to entertain special appeals in its discretion from\nany judgment or order in any case passed by any court or tribunal in India.\nThis is a kind of extraordinary power which the Supreme Court as the highest\ncourt of the land is entitled to make use of, in the interest of justice. The\nSupreme Court may also give its advice to the President on a question of law or\nfact of public importance, as and when the President refers such a matter to\nthe Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law, declared by the Supreme Court through\nits decisions, is binding on all courts in the country. Further, in the\nexercise of its jurisdiction, the Supreme Court is authorised to pass\nappropriate decrees or orders in the interests of justice. Such decrees and\norders are enforceable throughout the territory of India. It has also the power\nto secure the attendance before it of any person within the country or order\nthe discovery and production of any documents, or the investigation or\npunishment of any contempt of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, the Supreme Court has a very important\nrole to perform under the Constitution. As the final interpreter of the\nConstitution, its power embraces not only the interpretation of the\nConstitution, but also that of the laws of the Union Government, the States and\nthe local authorities. Under its original jurisdiction, it finally settles all\ndisputes between the Union and the States or those between the States\nthemselves. Its appellate jurisdiction\nembraces not only Constitutional but also civil and criminal matters. And through\nthe exercise of its power to grant special leave to appeal, it is competent to\nreview any decision by any court or tribunal in the country. It is also\nempowered, under certain conditions, to give advice to the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law declared by the Supreme Court is binding\non any court in India. Further, it has got the power of superintendence and\ncontrol over every High Court in India. Its orders are enforceable throughout\nthe country and it can order anyone to appear before it or call for any\ndocument. Its decisions can invalidate the laws made by even the highest\nlegislative authority of the land\u2014the Parliament of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Above all, the Supreme Court is the protector of\nthe Fundamental Rights guaranteed under the Constitution. In the exercise of\nthis power, it can declare Union or State laws invalid or issue writs or orders\nto any administrative authority in any part of India with a view to preventing\nthe infringement of any Fundamental Right. The combination of such wide and\nvaried powers in the Supreme Court makes it not only the supreme authority in\nthe judicial field, but also the guardian of the Constitution and the laws of\nthe land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Court of Record : <\/strong>Article 129 provides Supreme Court to be a court of records.\nThis means that Other Powers of the Supreme\nCourt : <\/strong>Apart from the jurisdictions\ngiven above, there are other powers enjoyed by the Supreme Court. These powers\nare as follows :<\/p>\n\n\n\n (a) Supreme\nCourt appoints its officers and servants in consultation with the Union Public\nService Commission (UPSC) and determines their conditions of service with the\napproval of the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (b) Supreme\nCourt can make rules regarding the practice and proce\u00addure of the court with\nthe prior approval of the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (c) Supreme\nCourt can appoint arbitrators to decide cases and dis\u00adputes relating to extra\ncosts incurred by the State government in carrying out the directions of the\nUnion Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (d) Supreme\nCourt is the only authority to look into disputes regarding the election of the\nPresident and the Vice-President.\n\n(e) Supreme Court can\nrecommend the removal of the Chairman and members of the UPSC to the President.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Supreme Court plays a unique role in the scheme of Constitutional government in the country as the highest appellate judicial authority and the final interpreter of the Constitution as well as the guardian of our Fundamental Rights. Although the Constitution establishes a Federal System of Government, unlike many other countries with Federal Constitutions, India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nits records are admitted to be of evidentiary value and cannot be questioned in\nany court. As a court of record, it also enjoys the power to punish for\ncontempt of itself. The punishment can be simple imprisonment for a term up to\nsix months, or fine up to Rs. 2000 or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n