Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-29T10:55:54.705Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - The Structure and Functioning of the Supreme Court of India

from Part I - The Supreme Court of India – An Institutional Overview

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2019

By
Nick Robinson
Edited by
Gerald N. Rosenberg ,
Sudhir Krishnaswamy  and
Shishir Bail
Gerald N. Rosenberg
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Sudhir Krishnaswamy
Affiliation:
Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Shishir Bail
Affiliation:
Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Get access

Summary

The Indian Supreme Court sits in panels and can have up to 31 judges. This chapter explores how the Indian Supreme Court developed its current structure and the impact of this structure on its functioning. It argues that the Supreme Court’s structure has a range of inter-related effects that includes increasing access to the Court, producing a “polyvocal” jurisprudence that destabilizes stare decisis, spurring experimentation among judges, fostering a “Chief Justice dominant” Court, and reducing the perceived partisanship of judges. Mapping the structure of the Court, as well as the Court’s relationship with the rest of the judiciary, helps us appreciate how judges ultimately interpret the law and the Constitution not in isolation, but within a larger judicial architecture.

Keywords

Indian Supreme Courtjudicial structurejudicial process
Type
Chapter
Information
A Qualified Hope
The Indian Supreme Court and Progressive Social Change
 , pp. 23 - 42
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Alexander, Gregory, The Global Debate Over Constitutional Property: Lessons for American Takings Jurisprudence ( 2006 ).Google Scholar
Chandrachud, Abhinav, An Empirical Study of the Supreme Court’s Composition, 46(1) Ec. Pol. Weekly ( 2011 ).Google Scholar
Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community v. State of Maharasthra 2 SCC 673 (2005).Google Scholar
Child Rapist Deserves Death Penalty: Retd Justice, Times of India, Dec. 6, 2009.Google Scholar
Cross, Frank B., Decision Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals (2007).Google Scholar
Dhavan, Rajeev, Justice on Trial: The Supreme Court Today (1980).Google Scholar
Dhavan, Rajeev, The Supreme Court Under Strain – The Challenge of Arrears 5 (1978).Google Scholar
Fertilizer Corpn. Kamgar Union v. Union of India 1 SCC 568 (1981).Google Scholar
Fischer, Alexander, Higher Lawmaking as a Political Resource, in Sovereignty and Diversity 186, ed. Miodrag Jovanović & Kristin Henrard 2008).Google Scholar
Gadbois, George H. Jr., Indian Judicial Behaviour, 3(5) Ec. Pol. Weekly 149 (1970).Google Scholar
Gadbois, George H. Jr., Judges of the Supreme Court of India: 1950–1989 (2011).Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc and Robinson, Nick, India’s Grand Advocates: A Legal Elite Flourishing in an Age of Globalization, 20(3) Int’l J. Legal Profession (2013).Google Scholar
Government of India Act, 1935Google Scholar
India Constituent Assembly Debates (1946– 1948).Google Scholar
India Law Commission, Report, No. 14 (1958).Google Scholar
India Law Commission, Report No. 229 (Aug. 2009).Google Scholar
In re Special Reference 1 of 1998, AIR 1999 SC 1.Google Scholar
Khaitan, Tarunabh, Justice Sinha’s Legacy: Strict Scrutiny, Death Penalty, Counter-majoritarianism, Law and Other Things, Aug. 6, 2009.Google Scholar
Kumar, Raj, Essays on Legal Systems in India 110 (2003).Google Scholar
Mahajan, Mehr Chand, Looking Back: The Autobiography of Mehr Chand Mahajan, Former Chief Justice of India ( 1963 ).Google Scholar
Mahapatra, Dhananjay, Adam’s Bridge Was NDA Decision: Govt, Times of India, Sept. 11, 2007.Google Scholar
Massey, I. P., Administrative Law (2008).Google Scholar
Mehta, , Manu, Pratap Bhanu, India’s Judiciary: The Promise of Uncertainty in Public Institutions in India (Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta eds, 2005).Google Scholar
New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262 (1932).Google Scholar
P.N. Kumar v. Municipal Corpn of Delhi, 4 SCC 609 (1987).Google Scholar
Posner, Richard, The Federal Courts: Challenges and Reform (1999).Google Scholar
Pound, Roscoe, The Courts and the Crown in The Spirit of the Common Law (1921).Google Scholar
Pylee, M. V., The Federal Court of India 68 (1996).Google Scholar
Rajamani, Lavanya and Arghya, Sengupta, The Supreme Court of India: Power, Promise, and Overreach in The Oxford Companion to Politics in India (2010).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Expanding Judiciaries: India and the Rise of the Good Governance Court, 8 Wash. Univ. Global Studies L. Rev. 1 (2009).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Too Many Cases, Frontline, Jan. 3–16, 2009.Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Hard to Reach, Frontline, Jan. 30–Feb. 12, 2010.Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick et al., Interpreting the Constitution: Supreme Court Constitution Benches Since Independence, XLVI(9) Ec. Pol. Weekly 27 (2011).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Structure Matters: The Impact of Court Structure on the Indian and U.S. Supreme Courts, 61(1) Am. J. Comp. Law 173 (2013).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, A Quantitative Analysis of the Indian Supreme Court’s Workload, 10(3) J. Empirical Legal Studies 570, 599 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Judicial Architecture and Capacity, in The Oxford Handbook on Indian Constitutional Law , ed. Sujit, Choudhry, Madhav, Khosla, & Pratap, Mehta (2016).Google Scholar
Sen, Shreeja, Supreme Court Sets up New Benches for Tax, Criminal Cases, Mint, Feb. 24, 2015.Google Scholar
Singh, Justice B. P., Supreme Court – As I Saw It Then, in The Annual Report of The Supreme Court of India 2006–07.Google Scholar
SP Gupta v. Union of India AIR 1982 SC 149.Google Scholar
State of Rajasthan v. Union of India (1979) 3 SCC 634.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. et al., Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary (2006).Google Scholar
Supreme But Not Infallible: Essays in Honour of the Supreme Court of India (B.N. Kirpal et al. eds., 2001).Google Scholar
Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union of India AIR 1994 SC 268.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India Annual Report 2015–2016.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India Calendar – 2017, www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/calendar.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India website, Chief Justice & Judges, Supreme Court of India, www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/chief-justice-judges.Google Scholar
Supreme Court judge Pasayat Retires, The Hindu, May 10, 2009.Google Scholar
Supreme Court Advocates on Record Ass’n vs. Union of India (AIR 1994 SC 258).Google Scholar
Vendhan, Paari, What Lady Justice Can’t See, Tehelka, May 23, 2011.Google Scholar
Venkatesan, J., Supreme Court Again Says ?No? to Regional Benches, The Hindu, February 21, 2010.Google Scholar
Vishwanath, Apurva, What Are the Lessons Learnt from the Right to Food Case?, Mint, March 20, 2017.Google Scholar
Cross, Frank B., Decision Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals (2007).Google Scholar
Dhavan, Rajeev, Justice on Trial: The Supreme Court Today (1980).Google Scholar
Dhavan, Rajeev, The Supreme Court Under Strain – The Challenge of Arrears 5 (1978).Google Scholar
Fertilizer Corpn. Kamgar Union v. Union of India 1 SCC 568 (1981).Google Scholar
Fischer, Alexander, Higher Lawmaking as a Political Resource, in Sovereignty and Diversity 186, ed. Miodrag Jovanović & Kristin Henrard 2008).Google Scholar
Gadbois, George H. Jr., Indian Judicial Behaviour, 3(5) Ec. Pol. Weekly 149 (1970).Google Scholar
Gadbois, George H. Jr., Judges of the Supreme Court of India: 1950–1989 (2011).Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc and Robinson, Nick, India’s Grand Advocates: A Legal Elite Flourishing in an Age of Globalization, 20(3) Int’l J. Legal Profession (2013).Google Scholar
Government of India Act, 1935Google Scholar
India Constituent Assembly Debates (1946– 1948).Google Scholar
India Law Commission, Report, No. 14 (1958).Google Scholar
India Law Commission, Report No. 229 (Aug. 2009).Google Scholar
In re Special Reference 1 of 1998, AIR 1999 SC 1.Google Scholar
Khaitan, Tarunabh, Justice Sinha’s Legacy: Strict Scrutiny, Death Penalty, Counter-majoritarianism, Law and Other Things, Aug. 6, 2009.Google Scholar
Kumar, Raj, Essays on Legal Systems in India 110 (2003).Google Scholar
Mahajan, Mehr Chand, Looking Back: The Autobiography of Mehr Chand Mahajan, Former Chief Justice of India ( 1963 ).Google Scholar
Mahapatra, Dhananjay, Adam’s Bridge Was NDA Decision: Govt, Times of India, Sept. 11, 2007.Google Scholar
Massey, I. P., Administrative Law (2008).Google Scholar
Mehta, , Manu, Pratap Bhanu, India’s Judiciary: The Promise of Uncertainty in Public Institutions in India (Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta eds, 2005).Google Scholar
New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262 (1932).Google Scholar
P.N. Kumar v. Municipal Corpn of Delhi, 4 SCC 609 (1987).Google Scholar
Posner, Richard, The Federal Courts: Challenges and Reform (1999).Google Scholar
Pound, Roscoe, The Courts and the Crown in The Spirit of the Common Law (1921).Google Scholar
Pylee, M. V., The Federal Court of India 68 (1996).Google Scholar
Rajamani, Lavanya and Arghya, Sengupta, The Supreme Court of India: Power, Promise, and Overreach in The Oxford Companion to Politics in India (2010).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Expanding Judiciaries: India and the Rise of the Good Governance Court, 8 Wash. Univ. Global Studies L. Rev. 1 (2009).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Too Many Cases, Frontline, Jan. 3–16, 2009.Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Hard to Reach, Frontline, Jan. 30–Feb. 12, 2010.Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick et al., Interpreting the Constitution: Supreme Court Constitution Benches Since Independence, XLVI(9) Ec. Pol. Weekly 27 (2011).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Structure Matters: The Impact of Court Structure on the Indian and U.S. Supreme Courts, 61(1) Am. J. Comp. Law 173 (2013).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, A Quantitative Analysis of the Indian Supreme Court’s Workload, 10(3) J. Empirical Legal Studies 570, 599 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Judicial Architecture and Capacity, in The Oxford Handbook on Indian Constitutional Law , ed. Sujit, Choudhry, Madhav, Khosla, & Pratap, Mehta (2016).Google Scholar
Sen, Shreeja, Supreme Court Sets up New Benches for Tax, Criminal Cases, Mint, Feb. 24, 2015.Google Scholar
Singh, Justice B. P., Supreme Court – As I Saw It Then, in The Annual Report of The Supreme Court of India 2006–07.Google Scholar
SP Gupta v. Union of India AIR 1982 SC 149.Google Scholar
State of Rajasthan v. Union of India (1979) 3 SCC 634.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. et al., Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary (2006).Google Scholar
Supreme But Not Infallible: Essays in Honour of the Supreme Court of India (B.N. Kirpal et al. eds., 2001).Google Scholar
Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union of India AIR 1994 SC 268.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India Annual Report 2015–2016.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India Calendar – 2017, www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/calendar.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India website, Chief Justice & Judges, Supreme Court of India, www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/chief-justice-judges.Google Scholar
Supreme Court judge Pasayat Retires, The Hindu, May 10, 2009.Google Scholar
Supreme Court Advocates on Record Ass’n vs. Union of India (AIR 1994 SC 258).Google Scholar
Vendhan, Paari, What Lady Justice Can’t See, Tehelka, May 23, 2011.Google Scholar
Venkatesan, J., Supreme Court Again Says ?No? to Regional Benches, The Hindu, February 21, 2010.Google Scholar
Vishwanath, Apurva, What Are the Lessons Learnt from the Right to Food Case?, Mint, March 20, 2017.Google Scholar

Constitution of India

Cross, Frank B., Decision Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals (2007).Google Scholar
Dhavan, Rajeev, Justice on Trial: The Supreme Court Today (1980).Google Scholar
Dhavan, Rajeev, The Supreme Court Under Strain – The Challenge of Arrears 5 (1978).Google Scholar
Fertilizer Corpn. Kamgar Union v. Union of India 1 SCC 568 (1981).Google Scholar
Fischer, Alexander, Higher Lawmaking as a Political Resource, in Sovereignty and Diversity 186, ed. Miodrag Jovanović & Kristin Henrard 2008).Google Scholar
Gadbois, George H. Jr., Indian Judicial Behaviour, 3(5) Ec. Pol. Weekly 149 (1970).Google Scholar
Gadbois, George H. Jr., Judges of the Supreme Court of India: 1950–1989 (2011).Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc and Robinson, Nick, India’s Grand Advocates: A Legal Elite Flourishing in an Age of Globalization, 20(3) Int’l J. Legal Profession (2013).Google Scholar
Government of India Act, 1935Google Scholar
India Constituent Assembly Debates (1946– 1948).Google Scholar
India Law Commission, Report, No. 14 (1958).Google Scholar
India Law Commission, Report No. 229 (Aug. 2009).Google Scholar
In re Special Reference 1 of 1998, AIR 1999 SC 1.Google Scholar
Khaitan, Tarunabh, Justice Sinha’s Legacy: Strict Scrutiny, Death Penalty, Counter-majoritarianism, Law and Other Things, Aug. 6, 2009.Google Scholar
Kumar, Raj, Essays on Legal Systems in India 110 (2003).Google Scholar
Mahajan, Mehr Chand, Looking Back: The Autobiography of Mehr Chand Mahajan, Former Chief Justice of India ( 1963 ).Google Scholar
Mahapatra, Dhananjay, Adam’s Bridge Was NDA Decision: Govt, Times of India, Sept. 11, 2007.Google Scholar
Massey, I. P., Administrative Law (2008).Google Scholar
Mehta, , Manu, Pratap Bhanu, India’s Judiciary: The Promise of Uncertainty in Public Institutions in India (Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta eds, 2005).Google Scholar
New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262 (1932).Google Scholar
P.N. Kumar v. Municipal Corpn of Delhi, 4 SCC 609 (1987).Google Scholar
Posner, Richard, The Federal Courts: Challenges and Reform (1999).Google Scholar
Pound, Roscoe, The Courts and the Crown in The Spirit of the Common Law (1921).Google Scholar
Pylee, M. V., The Federal Court of India 68 (1996).Google Scholar
Rajamani, Lavanya and Arghya, Sengupta, The Supreme Court of India: Power, Promise, and Overreach in The Oxford Companion to Politics in India (2010).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Expanding Judiciaries: India and the Rise of the Good Governance Court, 8 Wash. Univ. Global Studies L. Rev. 1 (2009).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Too Many Cases, Frontline, Jan. 3–16, 2009.Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Hard to Reach, Frontline, Jan. 30–Feb. 12, 2010.Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick et al., Interpreting the Constitution: Supreme Court Constitution Benches Since Independence, XLVI(9) Ec. Pol. Weekly 27 (2011).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Structure Matters: The Impact of Court Structure on the Indian and U.S. Supreme Courts, 61(1) Am. J. Comp. Law 173 (2013).Google Scholar
Robinson, Nick, A Quantitative Analysis of the Indian Supreme Court’s Workload, 10(3) J. Empirical Legal Studies 570, 599 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Nick, Judicial Architecture and Capacity, in The Oxford Handbook on Indian Constitutional Law , ed. Sujit, Choudhry, Madhav, Khosla, & Pratap, Mehta (2016).Google Scholar
Sen, Shreeja, Supreme Court Sets up New Benches for Tax, Criminal Cases, Mint, Feb. 24, 2015.Google Scholar
Singh, Justice B. P., Supreme Court – As I Saw It Then, in The Annual Report of The Supreme Court of India 2006–07.Google Scholar
SP Gupta v. Union of India AIR 1982 SC 149.Google Scholar
State of Rajasthan v. Union of India (1979) 3 SCC 634.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. et al., Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary (2006).Google Scholar
Supreme But Not Infallible: Essays in Honour of the Supreme Court of India (B.N. Kirpal et al. eds., 2001).Google Scholar
Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union of India AIR 1994 SC 268.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India Annual Report 2015–2016.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India Calendar – 2017, www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/calendar.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of India website, Chief Justice & Judges, Supreme Court of India, www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/chief-justice-judges.Google Scholar
Supreme Court judge Pasayat Retires, The Hindu, May 10, 2009.Google Scholar
Supreme Court Advocates on Record Ass’n vs. Union of India (AIR 1994 SC 258).Google Scholar
Vendhan, Paari, What Lady Justice Can’t See, Tehelka, May 23, 2011.Google Scholar
Venkatesan, J., Supreme Court Again Says ?No? to Regional Benches, The Hindu, February 21, 2010.Google Scholar
Vishwanath, Apurva, What Are the Lessons Learnt from the Right to Food Case?, Mint, March 20, 2017.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×