Indian Judiciary — Supreme Court, High Court, PIL, Judicial Review, Landmark Cases

The Indian Judiciary (Articles 124-147 for SC, Articles 214-231 for HC) is a guaranteed 3-6 question topic in every PSC exam. Focus on composition, jurisdiction, landmark cases, and PIL.

Supreme Court of India (Articles 124-147)

Composition

Feature	Detail
Established	28 January 1950 (replaced Federal Court)
Seat	New Delhi (CJI can appoint other places with President’s approval — Art. 130)
Original strength	8 (1 CJI + 7 judges)
Current strength	34 (1 CJI + 33 judges, after 2019 amendment)
Appointment	By President, after consultation with CJI and other SC/HC judges
Qualification	Indian citizen + (a) HC judge for 5 years, OR (b) HC advocate for 10 years, OR (c) distinguished jurist in President’s opinion
Retirement age	65 years
Oath	Administered by President

Removal of SC Judge

• Only by impeachment for “proved misbehaviour or incapacity.”
• Motion signed by 100 Lok Sabha members or 50 Rajya Sabha members.
• Investigation by a 3-member committee (SC judge, HC judge, distinguished jurist).
• Passed by special majority (2/3 of members present and voting + majority of total membership) in EACH House.
• Only one attempt so far: Justice V. Ramaswami (1993) — motion failed in Lok Sabha.

Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court

Type	Articles	Scope
Original	Art. 131	Disputes between Union and States, or between States
Appellate	Art. 132-136	Constitutional, civil, and criminal appeals from HCs
Advisory	Art. 143	President can seek SC’s opinion on questions of law or fact
Writ	Art. 32	Enforcement of Fundamental Rights (5 writs)
Review	Art. 137	SC can review its own judgments
Court of Record	Art. 129	Records have evidentiary value; can punish for contempt

The Five Writs

Writ	Meaning	Use
Habeas Corpus	”You shall have the body” (produce the detained person)	Against unlawful detention
Mandamus	”We command”	Orders public official/body to perform duty
Prohibition	”To forbid”	Superior court stops inferior court from exceeding jurisdiction
Certiorari	”To be certified”	Superior court quashes order of inferior court
Quo Warranto	”By what authority”	Challenges a person holding public office without legal right

Mnemonic: “HM-PCQ” — Habeas, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari, Quo Warranto.

• Mandamus cannot be issued against the President or Governor (Art. 361), a private individual, or the Chief Justice acting in judicial capacity.
• Quo Warranto can be filed by ANY person (not just the aggrieved party).

High Courts (Articles 214-231)

Feature	Detail
Number	25 High Courts in India (as of 2026)
Appointment of judges	By President, in consultation with CJI, Governor of the state, and Chief Justice of the HC
Retirement age	62 years
Qualification	Indian citizen + (a) held judicial office for 10 years, OR (b) HC advocate for 10 years
Transfer	President can transfer HC judges after consulting CJI (Art. 222)

Jurisdiction of High Courts

Type	Details
Original	FR enforcement (Art. 226), revenue matters, election petitions
Appellate	Civil and criminal appeals from subordinate courts
Writ	Art. 226 — wider than SC (for FR + any other purpose)
Supervisory	Control over all subordinate courts (Art. 227)
Court of Record	Art. 215 — records + contempt power

Kerala High Court

Fact	Detail
Established	1956 (formerly Travancore-Cochin HC, est. 1949)
Seat	Ernakulam (Kochi)
First Chief Justice	Justice K.T. Koshi

Subordinate Courts (Articles 233-237)

• District Judge — highest judicial authority at district level. Appointed by Governor in consultation with HC.
• Below District Courts: Civil Judge (Junior Division), Judicial Magistrate, etc.
• Lok Adalat — statutory body under Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Award is final, binding, and non-appealable.

Judicial Review

• Power of courts to examine the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions.
• Article 13: Laws inconsistent with Fundamental Rights are void.
• Not explicitly stated in the Constitution but implied from Articles 13, 32, 131-136, 226, 246, 251, 254.
• Often called the “basic feature” of the Constitution (Kesavananda Bharati case, 1973).

Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

Feature	Detail
Origin	Borrowed from the US concept of “social action litigation”
Pioneer in India	Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
First PIL case	Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar (1979) — right to speedy trial
Who can file	Any public-spirited person (not just the aggrieved party)
Filed where	SC (Art. 32) or HC (Art. 226)
Objective	Access to justice for disadvantaged sections

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Case	Year	Significance
A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras	1950	Narrow interpretation of Article 21 (only procedure established by law)
Shankari Prasad v. Union of India	1951	Parliament can amend Fundamental Rights
Golaknath v. State of Punjab	1967	Parliament CANNOT amend FRs (overruled by 24th Amendment)
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala	1973	Basic Structure Doctrine — Parliament can amend Constitution but not its basic structure
Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain	1975	Free and fair elections are part of basic structure
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India	1978	Art. 21 expanded — procedure must be “just, fair, and reasonable”
Minerva Mills v. Union of India	1980	Judicial review is a basic feature; harmony between FR and DPSP
S.R. Bommai v. Union of India	1994	Art. 356 (President’s Rule) is subject to judicial review
Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan	1997	Guidelines against sexual harassment at workplace
L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India	1997	Judicial review under Art. 226/32 cannot be excluded

Judicial Appointments — Collegium System

• First Judges Case (1981): Primacy of executive in appointments (S.P. Gupta case).
• Second Judges Case (1993): CJI’s opinion has primacy; Collegium system begins (SC Advocates-on-Record Association).
• Third Judges Case (1998): Collegium expanded to CJI + 4 senior-most SC judges.
• NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission): 99th Amendment (2014) struck down by SC in 2015 as violating judicial independence.

Comparison: SC vs HC

Feature	Supreme Court	High Court
Article	124-147	214-231
Retirement	65 years	62 years
Writ jurisdiction	Art. 32 (only for FR)	Art. 226 (FR + other purposes)
Judges appointed by	President + CJI consultation	President + CJI + Governor + HC CJ
Court of Record	Art. 129	Art. 215
Seat	New Delhi	Principal seat in respective state (not always the capital — e.g., Kerala HC in Ernakulam)

Focus on article numbers, retirement ages, and the difference between Art. 32 and Art. 226 — these three alone can yield 2-3 marks per exam.