POLITICAL SCIENCE (CODE NO.

– 028)

PROJECT FILE

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF THE

PRESENT CJI.

By- SAMPURNA RASTOGI – XI H

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my teacher Ms. Heena Chattani as
well as our principal Ms. Bhawana Gupta who
gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic AN ANALYSIS OF
THE ROLE OF THE PRESENT CJI, which also helped
me in doing a lot of Research and I came to
know about so many new things I am really
thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my parents
and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing
this project within the limited time frame.

Name : Sampurna Rastogi

Class : XI H
Scholar No : 9504
 Certificate
SIR PADAMPAT SINGHANIA EDUCATION
CENTRE

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT MASTER SAMPURNA

RASTOGI (SCHOLAR NO. 9504) HAS
SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED A PROJECT ON
THE TOPIC AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF
THE PRESENT CJI. PRESCRIBED FOR
POLITICAL SCIENCE (CODE NO. 028) IN CLASS
11TH (STREAM: HUMANITIES) IN THE ACADEMIC
YEAR 2022-23, AND HAS SUBMITTED IT TO
HEENA CHATTANI MA’AM.

________________
(HEENA CHATTANI)

INDEX
 Judiciary as the 3rd Organ
 The judicial (court) system of
India
 The Supreme Court and its
Judges
 The Chief Justice of India
 The pre-requisites to be a CJI
 The uncodified trends (also
when not followed)
 The process of appointment
 The current CJI
 Review on his major decisions
 Observation and Conclusion
 Bibliography

JUDICIARY AS THE 3 RD

ORGAN OF THE GOVERNMENT

Every government has three organs: the
Legislature, the Executive, and the
Judiciary. And today we will be talking
about the 3rd organ specifically the
Judiciary.
Judiciary is an independent body to settle
down the disputes arisen between the
individuals or groups or government on the
basis of the rule of law.
Its responsible for the legal system and
that consists of all the judges in its courts
of law. The judiciary is that branch of the
government that interprets the law, settles
disputes and administers justice to all
citizens. The judiciary is considered the
watchdog of democracy, and also the
guardian of the Constitution. Let’s take a
look at the system of courts with which
judiciary is able to do its functions
properly.
 THE JUDICIAL (COURT)
SYSTEM OF INDIA

The Constitution of India provides

for a single integrated judicial
system. This means that unlike some
other federal countries of the
world, India does not have separate
State courts. The structure of the
judiciary in India is pyramidal
with the Supreme Court at the top,
High Courts below them and district
and subordinate courts at the
lowest level. The lower courts
function under the direct
superintendence of the higher
courts. Supreme Court being
literally the “Supreme” Authority
as we can see from the article
mentioned below.
“Article 144 …… All authorities,
civil and judicial, in the
territory of India shall act in aid
of the Supreme Court.”
A slight look into the courts and
their powers -

Supreme Court of India: -

Its decisions are binding on all
courts.
Can transfer Judges of High
Courts. Can move cases from any
court to itself.
Can transfer cases from one High
Court to another.
High Court: -
Can hear appeals from lower
courts.
Can issue writs for restoring
Fundamental Rights.
Can deal with cases within the
jurisdiction of the State.
Exercises superintendence and
control over courts below it.
District Court: -
Deals with cases arising in the
district.
Considers appeals on decisions
given by lower courts.
Decides cases involving serious
criminal offences.
Subordinate Courts: -
Consider cases of civil and
criminal nature

Moving on and further closer to our

topic we focus on the Supreme Court
of India and we look into its
Jurisdictions Which namely are: -
 Original
 Appellate
 Advisory
 Writ
  Special Powers

Let’s understand them briefly...

THE SUPREME COURT AND

ITS JUDGES

The Supreme Court of India is one

of the very powerful courts
anywhere in the world. However, it
functions within the limitations
imposed by the Constitution. The
functions and responsibilities of
the Supreme Court are defined by
the Constitution. The Supreme Court
has specific jurisdiction or scope
of powers.
Original Jurisdiction means cases that
can be directly considered by the Supreme
Court without going to the lower courts
before that. The Original Jurisdiction of
the Supreme Court establishes it as an
umpire in all disputes regarding federal
matters. In any federal country, legal
disputes are bound to arise between the
Union and the States; and among the States
themselves. The power to resolve such cases
is entrusted to the Supreme Court of India.
It is called original jurisdiction because
the Supreme Court alone has the power to
deal with such cases.

Writ Jurisdiction any individual, whose

fundamental right has been violated, can
directly move the Supreme Court for remedy.
The Supreme Court can give special orders in
the form of writs. The High Courts can also
issue writs, but the persons whose rights
are violated have the choice of either
approaching the High Court or approaching
the Supreme Court directly. Through such
writs, the Court can give orders to the
executive to act or not to act in a
particular way. These writs namely are: -
 Habeas Corpus
 Mandamus
 Quo Warranto
 Prohibition
 Certiorari
Appellate Jurisdiction The Supreme
Court is the highest court of appeal. A
person can appeal to the Supreme Court
against the decisions of the High Court.
However, High Court must certify that the
case is fit for appeal, that is to say that
it involves a serious matter of
interpretation of law or Constitution. In
addition, in criminal cases, if the lower
court has sentenced a person to death then
an appeal can be made to the High Court or
Supreme Court. Of course, the Supreme Court
holds the powers to decide whether to admit
appeals even when appeal is not allowed by
the High Court. Appellate jurisdiction means
that the Supreme Court will reconsider the
case and the legal issues involved in it. If
the Court thinks that the law or the
Constitution has a different meaning from
what the lower courts understood, then the
Supreme Court will change the ruling and
along with that also give new interpretation
of the provision involved. The High Courts
too, have appellate jurisdiction over the
decisions given by courts below them.

Advisory Jurisdiction In addition to

original and appellate jurisdiction, the
Supreme Court of India possesses advisory
jurisdiction also. This means that the
President of India can refer any matter that
is of public importance or that which
involves interpretation of Constitution to
Supreme Court for advice. However, the
Supreme Court is not bound to give advice on
such matters and the President is not bound
to accept such an advice. What then is the
utility of the advisory powers of the
Supreme Court? The utility is two-fold. In
the first place, it allows the government to
seek legal opinion on a matter of importance
before taking action on it. This may prevent
unnecessary litigations later. Secondly, in
the light of the advice of the Supreme
Court, the government can make suitable
changes in its action or legislations. This
falls under Article 143 of the Indian
Constitution.

Judicial Activism Ever heard of PIL’s

(Public Interest Litigation) or judicial
activism? Both these terms are often used in
the discussions about judiciary in recent
times. Many people think that these two
things have revolutionised the functioning
of judiciary and made it more people-
friendly. The chief instrument through which
judicial activism has flourished in India is
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) or Social
Action Litigation (SAL). What is PIL or SAL?
How and when did it emerge? In normal course
of law, an individual can approach the
courts only if he/she has been personally
aggrieved. That is to say, a person whose
rights have been violated, or who is
involved in a dispute, could move the court
of law. This concept underwent a change
around 1979. In 1979, the Court set the
trend when it decided to hear a case where
the case was filed not by the aggrieved
persons but by others on their behalf. As
this case involved a consideration of an
issue of public interest, it and such other
cases came to be known as public interest
litigations. Around the same time, the
Supreme Court also took up the case about
rights of prisoners. This opened the gates
for large number of cases where public
spirited citizens and voluntary
organisations sought judicial intervention
for protection of existing rights,
betterment of life conditions of the poor,
protection of the environment, and many
other issues in the interest of the public.
PIL has become the most important vehicle of
judicial activism.

Now that we the jurisdiction,

powers and the work of Supreme
Court, we also understand its
importance but lets now read about
when and how was it made after
which we will move to the judges,
yes that’s another step closer to
our topic.
On the 28th of January, 1950, two
days after India became a Sovereign
Democratic Republic, the Supreme
Court came into being. The
inauguration took place in the
Chamber of Princes in the
Parliament building which also
housed India's Parliament,
consisting of the Council of States
and the House of the People.

Moving on to the Judges we will see

how many judges are there in the
Supreme Court and what does one
mean by “bench”.

Currently, the Supreme Court of

India comprises of 33 judges and
the Chief Justice of India. This
number has changed a lot in the
past the most recent amendment to
the Supreme Court(Number of Judges)
Act, 1956 fixes the maximum number
of judges in the Supreme Court at
33. It was previously 30.
In the SC as most of the cases are
listed before a two or three-judge
Bench, called a Division Bench. As
per the legal provisions, a
Constitution Bench consists of a
minimum of five judges and the
number can go up to an odd number
of seven, nine and so on. The word
bench here means the number of
judges involved in the process of
judgement

THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF

INDIA
The Chief Justice of India (CJI)
is the head of the judiciary of
India and the Supreme Court of
India. As head of the supreme
court, the chief justice is
responsible for the allocation of
cases and appointment of
constitutional benches which deal
with important matters of law.

On the administrative side, the

chief justice carries out functions
of maintenance of the roster,
appointment of court officials and
general and miscellaneous matters
relating to the supervision and
functioning of the Supreme Court.

THE PRE-REQUISITES TO
BE A CJI

The Constitution of India does not

mention any procedure for
appointing the CJI.
Article 124 (1) of the Constitution
merely says, “There shall be a
Supreme Court of India consisting
of a Chief Justice of India.”
Clause (2) of Article 124 of the
Constitution says that every Judge
of the Supreme Court shall be
appointed by the President.
Thus, in the absence of a
constitutional provision, the
procedure to appoint CJI relies on
convention.
We will discuss the convention soon
but let’s look at the basic
requirements to be a CJI: -
Apart from being an Indian citizen,
the person must Have been for at
least five years a Judge of a High
Court or of two or more such Courts
in succession or
Have been for at least ten years an
advocate of a High Court or of two
or more such Courts in succession,
or
Be, in the opinion of the
President, a distinguished jurist.

Now we will be looking at the

process of appointment and its
convention and trends ...
THE UNCODIFIED TRENDS
(ALSO WHEN NOT
FOLLOWED)

The Convention
 The outgoing CJI recommends his
successor a practice, which
is strictly based on seniority.
 Seniority, however, is not
defined by age, but by the
number of years a judge has been
serving in the top court of the
country.
The government’s role
 The Central government has no
role to play in the appointment
of the CJI except for the Union
Law Minister seeking the
recommendation from the
incumbent CJI, before sending it
to the Prime Minister.

THE PROCESS OF
APPOINTMENT

Who appoints the CJI?

 The Chief Justice of India and

the other judges of the Supreme
Court are appointed by the
President under clause (2) of
Article 124 of the Indian
Constitution.
Process in-depth
 The more than two decades-
old collegium system is
followed in the appointment of
judges, consisting of five
senior-most judges of the
Supreme Court and the High
Courts.
 The term “collegium” is not
mentioned in the constitution,
which only speaks of
consultation by the President.
 The government gets a background
inquiry done by the Intelligence
Bureau (IB) at times from the
names first suggested for
appointment by the collegium.
 While the government can also
raise objections, usually
the collegiums will prevail.

 After the collegium’s

recommendations are finalised
and received from the CJI,
the Law Minister will put up the
recommendation to the Prime
Minister who will advise the
President on the matter of
appointment.
When and how the convention broke
and what reform was brought in the
process: -

As far as the appointment of the

Chief Justice of India (CJI) is
concerned, over the years, a
convention had developed whereby
the senior-most judge of the
Supreme Court was appointed as the
Chief Justice of India.
This convention was however broken
twice. In 1973 A. N. Ray was
appointed as CJI superseding three
senior Judges. Again, Justice M.H.
Beg was appointed superseding
Justice H.R. Khanna (1975).

The other Judges of the Supreme

Court and the High Court are
appointed by the President after
‘consulting’ the CJI. This, in
effect, meant that the final
decisions in matters of appointment
rested with the Council of
Ministers. What then, was the
status of the consultation with the
Chief Justice? This matter came up
before the Supreme Court again and
again between 1982 and 1998.
Initially, the court felt that role
of the Chief Justice was purely
consultative. Then it took the view
that the opinion of the Chief
Justice must be followed by the
President.

Finally, the Supreme Court has come

up with a novel procedure: it has
suggested that the Chief Justice
should recommend names of persons
to be appointed in consultation
with four senior-most judges of the
Court.

Thus, the Supreme Court has

established the principle of
collegiality in making
recommendations for appointments.
At the moment therefore, in matters
of appointment the decision of the
group of senior judges of the
Supreme Court carries greater
weight. Thus, in matters of
appointment to the judiciary, the
Supreme Court and the Council of
Ministers play an important role.

THE CURRENT CJI

Dhananjaya Yashwant
Chandrachud (born 11 November 1959)
is an Indian judge who is serving
as the 50th and current Chief
Justice of India. He is a former ex
officio executive chairman
of National Legal Services
Authority whilst being J1 (or the
senior-most judge after the chief
justice) of the Supreme Court of
India. In addition, he is a former
chief justice of the Allahabad High
Court and a former judge of
the Bombay High Court.
Son of India's longest-serving
Chief Justice, Y. V. Chandrachud,
he was educated at Delhi
University and Harvard
University before practising
for Sullivan & Cromwell and
in Bombay High Court. He became a
judge at the Bombay High Court and
then the chief justice of Allahabad
High Court.
A liberal judge, he has been part
of benches that delivered landmark
judgments such as Privacy
verdict and Sabarimala case. He has
visited the universities
of Mumbai, Oklahoma,
Harvard, Yale and others as a
professor.
He succeeded Justice Uday Umesh
Lalit on November 9, 2022 as
the chief justice of India (at the
age of 62 years, 11 months and 29
days) before which his nomination
was challenged on the grounds
of conflict of interest. A bench
headed by Justice Uday Umesh
Lalit dismissed the plea a week
before Chandrachud's oath-taking
ceremony.

REVIEW ON HIS MAJOR

DECISIONS

We take a look back at some of

his most important judgements,
both arising out of the High
Court’s where he served as a
Judge for about 16 years, and the
Supreme Court.
Justice Chandrachud allowed the
legal adoption of a girl under
the Juvenile Justice Act despite
the Hindu couple already having a
daughter, when he de livered a
concurring opinion
decriminalising adultery, when he
was a part of the historic Bench
that read down the controversial
Section 377, or more recently,
when he banned the two-finger
test still used to determine
whether survivors of sexual
assault are "habituated to sex".

"In November 2004, a Bench of

which Justice Chandrachud was a
part, directed the censor board
to certify a feature film set in
the backdrop of the 2002 communal
riots in Gujarat without any
cuts. It was alleged that one of
the characters in the film
resembled the then Chief Minister
of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. The
Bench noted, "No democracy can
countenance a lid on suppression
of events in society."
"In August of the same year, a
nine-Judge Constitution Bench of
the Supreme Court unanimously
held that the right to privacy
was a fundamental right. Justice
Chandrachud authored the lead
judgement in which he explained
how privacy was an essential
facet of the dignity of the human
being. Interestingly, through
this judgement, he overturned his
father and senior Justice
Chandrachud's infamous ruling in
Additional District Magistrate,
Jabalpur v. S.S. Shukla, which
had severely limited Article 21.
The current Chief Justice termed
the earlier verdict as "seriously
flawed". [K.S. Puttaswamy v.
Union of India (2017)]
 OBSERVATION AND
CONCLUSION

Chief Justice of India,

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
became a judge at the Bombay
High Court, in a role which
spanned more than a decade,
before assuming office as the
Chief Justice of the
Allahabad High Court, and
finally, a judge of the
Supreme Court and now the
CJI. He has attempted, in his
judgements, to harmonise the
traditional with modernity.
Justice Chandrachud has been
one of the most prolific
judges in the Supreme Court,
being part of over 220
judgements.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Constitution at Work
(NCERT Class-11)
 Livelaw.in
 Wikipedia.com
 Cnbctv18.com