Singapore News: The Supreme Court of India hosted its first-ever celebration of the 73rd anniversary of its establishment. This year’s event was aired on social media platforms and saw Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is of Indian origin, as the chief guest.
The Singapore chief justice delivered a lecture on the 'Role of judiciary in a changing world' at the event which featured a welcome address by Justice SK Kaul and an address by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud as well.
The Supreme Court came into being on January 28, 1950, two days after India became a sovereign democratic republic. The inauguration took place in the Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building which was the home to the Federal Court of India for 12 years preceding the Supreme Court’s establishment.
The Parliament House was to be the home of the Supreme Court for years that were to follow until the court acquired its own present building with lofty domes and its signature spacious colonnaded verandas in 1958.
The inaugural proceedings on the 28th began at 9.45 a.m. when the Judges of the Federal Court –Chief Justice Harilal J Kania and Justices Saiyid Fazl Ali, M Patanjali Sastri, Mehr Chand Mahajan, Bijan Kumar Mukherjea and S.R.Das – took their seats.
In attendance were the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Allahabad, Bombay, Madras, Orissa, Assam, Nagpur, Punjab, Saurashtra, Patiala and the East Punjab States Union, Mysore, Hyderabad, Madhya Bharat, and Travancore-Cochin. Along with the Attorney General for India, M.C. Setalvad were present the Advocate Generals of Bombay, Madras, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, East Punjab, Orissa, Mysore, Hyderabad, and Madhya Bharat. Present too, were the Prime Minister, other Ministers, Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives of foreign States, a large number of senior and other advocates of the Court, and other distinguished visitors, the Supreme Court’s official website records.
The inaugural proceedings ensured that the rules of the court were published and the names of all the advocates and agents of the Federal Court were brought on the rolls of the Supreme Court.
In 1958, when the court shifted its premises, the building was shaped to project the image of scales of justice, in the central wing. In 1979, two new wings – the East Wing and the West wing – were added to the complex. In all, there are 19 Courtrooms in the various wings of the building. The Chief Justice’s Court is the largest of the Courts located at the Centre of the Central Wing.