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Service of State

Judiciary of India

The Judiciary is the third branch of the Indian state and the guardian of its Constitution. An integrated single hierarchy runs from the Supreme Court of India at the apex, through the High Courts of the states, down to the district and subordinate courts. Through judicial review it can strike down laws and executive action, and through the "basic structure" doctrine it limits even Parliament's power to amend the Constitution. Uniquely among the world's major democracies, the higher judiciary also selects its own members — through the collegium — which is the institution's most contested feature.

Updated

Judiciary of India
Wilhelm Tell DCCXLVI · CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
Apex court established
28 January 1950
Structure
Supreme Court -> High Courts -> subordinate courts
Sanctioned SC strength
38 judges (raised from 34 in 2026)
Cases pending (all courts)
~5.4 crore (2025-26)
Appointments
Collegium system
Coverage since 195021 recorded events ·100% from official & primary sources
1950–1954: 1 event195019601970–1974: 1 event197019801990–1994: 1 event19901995–1999: 1 event20002005–2009: 1 event2010–2014: 1 event20102015–2019: 5 events2020–2024: 8 events20202025–2026: 2 events

Role

The Judiciary interprets and guards the Constitution. Its defining powers are judicial review — the authority to strike down legislation or executive action that violates the Constitution — and the basic structure doctrine, which places the Constitution’s foundational features beyond the reach of amendment. As an integrated system, a single hierarchy of courts — the Supreme Court, the High Courts of the states, and the district and subordinate courts — applies both central and state law nationwide, so that a right declared at the apex binds every court below it.

Why it is a service of state

Unlike the elected executive and legislature, the judiciary is a permanent, appointed arm of the state, insulated by design from the political cycle and outlasting any government. It is also, unusually, self-selecting: since the 1993 Second Judges Case the higher judiciary has chosen its own members through the collegium, and the 2015 defeat of the National Judicial Appointments Commission left that primacy intact. That places two live questions permanently at the centre of the institution — who appoints judges and whether the courts can clear their backlog — which IndiaStand tracks in a dedicated topic brief: India’s judiciary — appointments, pendency and reform.

Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.

Timeline since 1947

  1. reference

    Supreme Court of India established

    Inaugurated on 28 January 1950, succeeding the Federal Court of India (1937) as the apex court under the new Constitution.

    source 1

  2. reference

    Kesavananda Bharati: the basic structure doctrine

    A 13-judge bench held that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution's 'basic structure' — the foundational limit on the amending power, later used to strike down the NJAC.

    source 1

  3. reference

    Second Judges Case: the collegium is born

    Reversing the executive-primacy reading of the First Judges Case (1981), the Court held that 'consultation' with the CJI means concurrence — giving the judiciary primacy over its own appointments through a collegium of senior judges.

    source 1

  4. reference

    Third Judges Case fixes the collegium's shape

    A Presidential Reference settled that Supreme Court appointments are decided by the CJI and the four senior-most judges, and High Court appointments by the CJI and two senior-most judges.

    source 1

  5. reference

    Gram Nyayalayas Act brings village courts into force

    The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 (assented 7 January 2009) came into force on 2 October 2009 to take justice to citizens at their doorstep in rural areas. Uptake stayed far below design: as of 3 September 2019 only 208 Gram Nyayalayas were operational against a target of 5,000.

    source 1

  6. official

    e-Courts Phase I computerises 14,249 district and subordinate courts

    Phase I of the e-Courts Mission Mode Project ran 2011-2015 on an outlay of Rs 935 crore, of which Rs 639.41 crore was spent; it computerised 14,249 district and subordinate courts, installed LAN at 13,683 courts and issued laptops to 14,309 judicial officers. Video conferencing was operationalised between 493 court complexes and 347 corresponding jails.

    source 1

  7. official

    e-Courts Phase II and the creation of the National Judicial Data Grid

    Phase II (2015-2023) spent Rs 1,668.43 crore against an outlay of Rs 1,670 crore and extended digital infrastructure to 18,735 courts. It created the National Judicial Data Grid as the online repository of orders, judgments and case data for all computerised district and subordinate courts.

    source 1source 2

  8. reference

    NJDG opens district-court pendency data to the public

    The National Judicial Data Grid was launched for India's district courts on 19 September 2015, publishing institution, pendency and disposal statistics as a national repository rather than leaving them with individual courts.

    source 1

  9. reference

    NJAC struck down (Fourth Judges Case)

    By 4:1, a Constitution Bench invalidated the 99th Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, holding that executive participation in appointments violated the basic structure — restoring the collegium.

    source 1

  10. reference

    Puttaswamy: right to privacy

    A nine-judge bench held privacy to be a fundamental right intrinsic to life and liberty under the Constitution.

    source 1

  11. reference

    Supreme Court sanctioned strength raised to 34

    The apex court's sanctioned judge strength was lifted to 31 in 2009 and to 34 in 2019, the last revision before the 2026 increase to 38.

    source 1

  12. official

    Courts shift to video-conferencing hearings

    From 23 March 2020 the Supreme Court moved to hearing by video conferencing, holding 7,54,443 such hearings up to 4 June 2024. Across the system the district and subordinate courts heard 2,48,21,789 cases and the High Courts 90,21,629 by video conferencing to 31 October 2024, a total of 3.38 crore.

    source 1

  13. reference

    NJDG extended to the High Courts

    The National Judicial Data Grid was extended to India's High Courts on 3 July 2020, putting the second tier of the judiciary's caseload on the same public dashboard as the district courts.

    source 1

  14. official

    Union Cabinet approves e-Courts Phase III at Rs 7,210 crore

    The Union Cabinet approved e-Courts Phase III (2023-2027) as a Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of Rs 7,210 crore, over four times the funding for Phase II. It covers digital and paperless courts, digitisation of legacy court records, a cloud-based repository, saturation of court complexes with e-Sewa Kendras, and use of AI and OCR for pendency analysis.

    source 1source 2

  15. official

    Supreme Court onboards NJDG, putting all three tiers on one portal

    With the Supreme Court onboarding the National Judicial Data Grid on 14 September 2023, all three tiers of the judiciary came onto the portal. The NJDG-SCI instance, built by NIC with the Court's Computer Cell registry, publishes case-type and year-wise institution, pendency and disposal figures for the apex court.

    source 1

  16. official

    Mediation Act, 2023 enacted

    Act 32 of 2023 was enacted on 14 September 2023 and enforced from 9 October 2023 under the Department of Legal Affairs. It promotes institutional mediation, makes mediated settlement agreements enforceable, provides a body for registration of mediators, and recognises community and online mediation.

    source 1

  17. official

    Virtual traffic courts handle 6 crore cases and Rs 649.81 crore in fines

    Virtual Courts handling traffic challan cases were operational in 21 States and UTs, disposing of 6,00,29,546 cases; in 62,97,544 of them online fines totalling over Rs 649.81 crore were realised up to 31 October 2024.

    source 1

  18. official

    e-Sewa Kendras and NSTEP built out as the access layer

    To bridge the digital divide, 1,394 e-Sewa Kendras were rolled out in district courts and 36 in High Courts, while the National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes for serving summons reached 28 States and UTs. The NJDG by then carried more than 27.64 crore orders and judgments, with WAN connectivity at 99.5 per cent of court complexes.

    source 1

  19. official

    Live streaming of proceedings spreads to ten High Courts and the Supreme Court

    Live streaming of court proceedings was under way in the High Courts of Gujarat, Gauhati, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Calcutta, and in the Supreme Court, allowing media and other interested persons to follow hearings directly.

    source 1

  20. reference

    53rd Chief Justice of India takes oath

    The office of the Chief Justice passed to its 53rd holder, with a tenure running to February 2027; the CJI heads the collegium and allocates the Court's work as 'master of the roster'.

    source 1

  21. reference

    Supreme Court strength raised 34 -> 38

    The Union Cabinet cleared the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026; an Ordinance lifting the sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges was notified in the Gazette on 16 May 2026 — the first revision since 2019, against record pendency.

    source 1

Frequently asked

What is Judiciary of India?
The Judiciary is the third branch of the Indian state and the guardian of its Constitution. An integrated single hierarchy runs from the Supreme Court of India at the apex, through the High Courts of the states, down to the district and subordinate courts. Through judicial review it can strike down laws and executive action, and through the "basic structure" doctrine it limits even Parliament's power to amend the Constitution. Uniquely among the world's major democracies, the higher judiciary also selects its own members — through the collegium — which is the institution's most contested feature.
When was Judiciary of India established?
Judiciary of India was established 1950 (Supreme Court of India).
What does Judiciary of India do?
Its remit covers Judicial review of legislation and executive action, Interpretation and protection of the Constitution, Enforcement of fundamental rights, Final appellate jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, Appointment of judges to the higher judiciary (via the collegium).
What is the latest on Judiciary of India?
As of 2026-07-06: Supreme Court strength raised 34 -> 38. The Union Cabinet cleared the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026; an Ordinance lifting the sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges was notified in the Gazette on 16 May 2026 — the first revision since 2019, against record pendency.

Official sources

The government's own pages for this institution — go straight to the primary.

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