The Supreme Court celebrates the 73rd anniversary of its establishment: A brief overview

Supposedly a brainchild of CJI Chandrachud, this year, the court is hosting the first ever celebration of its anniversary with Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon as chief guest

The iconic central wing of the Supreme Court. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey Oct 13, 2022)

5 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2023 05:40 PM IST First published on: Feb 4, 2023 at 05:40 PM IST

The Supreme Court of India is hosting its first-ever celebration of the 73rd anniversary of its establishment today. This year’s event is being aired on social media platforms and will witness Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is of Indian origin, as the chief guest.

The Singapore chief justice will deliver a lecture on the “Role of judiciary in a changing world” at the event which will feature a welcome address by Justice SK Kaul and an address by the chief justice of India as well.

When was the Supreme Court Founded?

On the January 28, 1950, two days after India became a sovereign democratic republic, the Supreme Court of India came into being. The inauguration took place in the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building which was the home to the Federal Court of India for 12 years preceding the Supreme Court’s establishment. The Parliament House was to be the home of the Supreme Court for years that were to follow until the court acquired its own present building with lofty domes and its signature spacious colonnaded verandas in 1958.

What was the Supreme Court’s inauguration like?

The inaugural proceedings on the 28th began at 9.45 a.m. when the Judges of the Federal Court – Chief Justice Harilal J.Kania and Justices Saiyid Fazl Ali, M. Patanjali Sastri, Mehr Chand Mahajan, Bijan Kumar Mukherjea and S.R.Das – took their seats.

In attendance were the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Allahabad, Bombay, Madras, Orissa, Assam, Nagpur, Punjab, Saurashtra, Patiala and the East Punjab States Union, Mysore, Hyderabad, Madhya Bharat, and Travancore-Cochin. Along with the Attorney General for India, M.C. Setalvad were present the Advocate Generals of Bombay, Madras, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, East Punjab, Orissa, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Madhya Bharat. Present too, were the Prime Minister, other Ministers, Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives of foreign States, a large number of senior and other advocates of the Court, and other distinguished visitors, the Supreme Court’s official website records.

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The inaugural proceedings ensured that the rules of the court were published and the names of all the advocates and agents of the Federal Court were brought on the rolls of the Supreme Court.

How has the Supreme Court changed over the years?

In 1958, when the court shifted its premises, the building was shaped to project the image of scales of justice, in the central wing. In 1979, two new wings – the East wing and the West wing – were added to the complex. In all, there are 19 Courtrooms in the various wings of the building. The Chief Justice’s Court is the largest of the Courts located at the Centre of the Central Wing.

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The original Constitution of 1950 envisaged a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and 7 puisne judges – leaving it to Parliament to increase this number. In the early years, all the judges of the Supreme Court sat together to hear the cases presented before them. As the work of the Court increased and arrears of cases began to accumulate, Parliament increased the number of Judges from 8 in 1950 to 11 in 1956, 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26 in 1986, 31 in 2009, and 34 in 2019 (current strength). As the number of Judges has increased, they sit in smaller benches of two and three – coming together in larger benches of 5 and more only when required to do so or to settle a difference of opinion or controversy.

Why celebrate on February 4?

While the Supreme Court was established on January 28, 1950, two days after the Constitution; the celebration of its 73rd anniversary is scheduled to take place on February 4 this year, most likely due to Sundaresh Menon’s schedule.

According to NDTV, it was CJI DY Chandrachud’s idea to start celebrating the Supreme court’s anniversary. “The CJI thought that since the Supreme court organizes Constitution Day on 26 November every year, it will be a good idea to showcase to the country how the judiciary works in an ever-changing world,” a source at the top court told NDTV.