Indian Judiciary
Overview
The Indian Judiciary is the guardian of the Constitution and the protector of fundamental rights. It forms the third pillar of Indian democracy alongside the Legislature and Executive. For TN TET Paper II Social Studies, this topic carries significant weight as it tests your understanding of constitutional mechanisms, court structure and the crucial concept of judicial review.
Students must understand the hierarchical structure of courts, key constitutional provisions, appointment and removal procedures, and the power of judicial review that makes Indian judiciary one of the most powerful in the world. Questions typically focus on Articles related to judiciary, qualifications of judges, jurisdictions of courts and landmark judgments establishing judicial review.
The judiciary's independence is maintained through security of tenure, fixed service conditions and the collegium system of appointments. This independence allows courts to check arbitrary actions of the government and uphold constitutional values.
Key Concepts
- **Integrated Judicial System**: India has a single unified judiciary with the Supreme Court at the apex, High Courts at state level and subordinate courts at district level. Unlike the USA, we do not have separate federal and state court systems.
- **Supreme Court as Court of Record**: Under Article 129, the Supreme Court's judgments are recorded for perpetual memory and testimony. Its decisions are binding on all courts and cannot be questioned.
- **Independence of Judiciary**: Secured through appointment by President (not legislature), fixed tenure until age 65 for SC and 62 for HC judges, salaries charged on Consolidated Fund (not voted upon), and removal only through impeachment.
- **Judicial Review**: The power of courts to examine laws and executive actions and declare them void if they violate the Constitution. This is the "basic structure" of the Constitution.
- **Public Interest Litigation (PIL)**: Any public-spirited person can approach courts on behalf of those who cannot access justice themselves. This expanded judicial activism began after the Hussainara Khatoon case (1979).
- **Collegium System**: Supreme Court judges are appointed through a collegium consisting of the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges. This emerged from the Second and Third Judges Cases (1993, 1998).
- **Writ Jurisdiction**: Both Supreme Court (Article 32) and High Courts (Article 226) can issue writs for enforcement of fundamental rights. The five writs are Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition and Quo Warranto.