Supreme Court

The supreme court of India is the apex body of the judiciary. The supreme court operates throughout the country with various high courts and district courts. But currently, India has the maximum number of undertrial prisoners, which means that the supreme court of India has an immense backlog of cases. 

Case Status of Supreme court

The supreme court of India has a chief justice who is appointed by the president of India. It is the apex body that safeguards the fundamental rights of the citizens provided by the Constitution of India. 

As mentioned earlier, the supreme court has the highest number of cases pending trials. As a result, the majority of the cases are either undertrial or awaiting verdict. Over the years, the Supreme Court of India has issued landmark decisions on issues such as land reform, the right to information act (commonly known as the RTI act), minority reservation, postal ballots for NRI Indians, the repeal of 377 or decriminalisation of homosexuality, the recognition of third gender as a separate gender identity, and so on. According to recent data, the status of pending data exceeds the number of 58000. Some cases have been pending for decades, most of them miscellaneous, and some regular hearings. The court presently has many vacations and doesn’t work throughout the year, and that can be one reason for the status of the cases. There was a proposal to operate the court throughout the year, but this proposal was rejected by the Bar Association of India as it would be inconvenient for the working advocates. The Supreme Court has the right to adjourn any case if they deem so. One of the landmark judgements of the supreme court came in the form of land reformation. In 1971, when the right to private property was excluded from the list of fundamental rights, the Zamindari system was abolished. In this way, the land reform movement witnessed a great victory. Even in an emergency period, the supreme court tried to protect the spirit of democracy and safeguard the constitutional rights of the citizens of India. 

Judges of supreme court

The supreme court justices are appointed by the president of India. There are provisions for 34 judges, but currently there are 32 judges who are appointed to this position, and this includes the chief justice of India. As per the Constitution of India, the supreme court justices retire at the age of 65. But as for 2021, the president of India appointed nine judges (three of them being women), which brings the total count of supreme court justices to 33. It was the first time since independence that nine judges took the oats together at the same time. Seven of these 33 judges are expected to become the chief justices of India. Currently, the sworn-in chief justice is N. V. Ramanna, who is the 48th chief justice of India. 

The chief justice and all the judges of the supreme court are appointed by the president of India. This appointment takes place according to article 24 (clause 2) of the Indian Constitution. Basically, the senior most judge of the supreme court is appointed as the chief justice of India. 

Conclusion

The nature of the Indian judiciary is very complex and the whole system is under-stuffed. This is one of the primary reasons behind the delay in the judiciary. The judiciary has also indulged in several controversies. The apex body, the supreme court, also has an overwhelming number of pending cases. Aspirants, especially those who are preparing for railway exams or UPSC exams, must have a clear concept of the nature of the Indian judiciary, the administrative structure of the supreme court, the role and contribution of the supreme court judges, etc., as they will be very helpful for the exams.