Welcome Reform, Uncertain Future

The Court’s decision to create a permanent Constitution Bench and single benches is appealing as it could cut delays, but much depends on how these are conceived and the CJI’s discretion

- Venkatasubramanian

ON September 17, the Supreme Court, through a gazette notification, amended the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, to enable a judge sitting singly, nominated by the chief justice, to hear and dispose of certain categories of matters. These include special leave petitions (SLPs) arising out of grant, dismissal or rejection of a bail or anticipatory bail application involving offences punishable with a sentence up to seven years’ imprisonment. Another category is applications for transfer of cases and appeals from one High Court to another or from a criminal court subordinate to one High Court to another criminal court of equal or superior jurisdiction subordinate to another High Court. The third category includes applications of an urgent nature for transfer of cases under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which enables the Court to transfer any suit, appeal or other proceeding from a High Court or another civil court in one state to a High Court or another civil court in any other state. The fourth category includes cases notified by the chief justice of India (CJI) from time to time.

But the crucial reform which the CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, sought to achieve without amending the rules is to create a permanent Constitution Bench of five judges to hear and decide key cases, raising substantial questions of law and the Constitution. This became possible with the Supreme Court’s strength rising from 31 to 34 and the Court functioning with its full sanctioned strength, thanks to the timely filling up of vacancies.

The Supreme Court, in its initial years, comprised only eight judges and all of them used to sit en banc to hear most cases, lending it a greater degree of coherence, which may be missing when the Court sits in division benches of two or three judges. The sanctioned strength of judges, however, kept rising from eight to 11 in 1956, 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26 in 1986 and 31 in 2008.