Supreme Court of India

The highest court in the country constituted under Article 124 of the Constitution. Its decisions are law under Article 141 and are binding on all lower courts. It has unlimited powers to do complete justice. It exercises original as well as appellate jurisdiction. Under Article 143 the President of India can ask the Supreme Court for an opinion on questions of law or fact. States can file suits against each other or against the Union of India under Article 131. The Supreme Court can transfer cases to itself from the High Courts or from one High Court to another under Article 139A of the Constitution. It can also transfer civil cases from one Court to another under S 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and likewise criminal cases under S 406 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Apart from special leave petitions, in certain instances, appeals can be filed directly against the judgments of lower courts and tribunals. Petitions challenging the election of the President or Vice-President of India are also filed directly in the Supreme Court. The chairperson of a public service commission may be removed only after an inquiry by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 31 judges, headed by the Chief Justice of India. The seat of the Supreme Court is New Delhi and its language is English.