Today, 76 years have been completed since the establishment of the top court of our country i.e. the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court came into existence with the implementation of the Constitution on 26 January 1950. It replaced the Federal Court, which existed during the British era. The Supreme Court was inaugurated on 28 January 1950 in the Narendra Mandal of the old Parliament House. Then in the year 1958, the Supreme Court’s own building was completed on Tilak Marg, New Delhi and the court was transferred here.
The building in which the Supreme Court is currently located has a very special design. The structure of this building is in the shape of ‘scales of justice’. It has a 27.6 meter high dome and a large verandah. The central wing of the building is the main beam of the scales. The Central Wing itself houses the Court of the Chief Justice, which is the largest. The Supreme Court building was expanded three times. In the year 1979, 1994 and again in 2015. In 1979, two new wings – the East Wing and the West Wing – were added. At present there are a total of 19 court rooms in all the wings of the Supreme Court.
Know about the Chief Justice first?
Justice Hiralal J., the first Chief Justice of independent India. Kania was there. However, he could remain in the chair only for about two years. He died on 6 November 1951 while still the Chief Justice. Justice Kania was born in Surat in the year 1890. His grandfather was a revenue officer in the British government and father Jekisundas taught Sanskrit at Shamaldas College in the princely state of Bhavnagar. Justice Kania’s elder brother, Hiralal Jekisundas, was also a lawyer. His son Madhukar Hiralal Jekisundas also became a judge and then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1987.
Earlier the number of judges was fixed at 7?
When the Constitution came into force in 1950, there was a provision for a Chief Justice and 7 judges in the Supreme Court. It was also said that Parliament can increase the number as per the need. For the first time in 1956, the number of judges was increased to 11. Then it was increased to 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26 in 1986, 31 in 2009 and 34 in 2019 (current number).
Provision for salaries of judges
When the Supreme Court was formed in the year 1950, the salary of the Chief Justice (CJI) was fixed at Rs 5000 per month and the salary of the judges was fixed at Rs 4000 per month. However, before this the British Government used to pay a salary of Rs 7000 every month to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court. Whereas the judge of the Federal Court used to get Rs 5500. Bombay High Court advocate Abhinav Chandrachud writes in his book ‘Supreme Whispers’ that one of the first decisions taken by the Nehru government was to reduce the salaries of the Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Harilal J. Kania also opposed this.
There was no change in the salary of the Chief Justice or judges of the Supreme Court from 1950 to 1985. For the first time in the year 1986, the salary of judges was increased through constitutional amendment. The salary of the Chief Justice was fixed at Rs 10,000 per month and the salary of judges was fixed at Rs 9,000 per month. After this, salary increased in 1998, 2009 and 2018.
