On 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India came into effect. Two days later, on 28 January, the Supreme Court held its first sitting under our Constitution in the Court Chamber of Parliament House. The court functioned from the Parliament House till it moved to the present building in 1958. This was the first time our revered judicial institution exercised sovereign jurisdiction over the entire country.
As per The Hindu report published on 29 January 1950, “Under its new jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has not only appellate authority in civil and criminal matters over the whole of the Indian Union…but it has original jurisdiction in regard to the enforcement of Fundamental Rights guaranteed under the Constitution.”
Yes, it was a solemn occasion, but what’s of greater interest was what eminent jurists from India’s first Attorney General to Chief Justice of India said on that fateful day. They laid out the vision of what role the Supreme Court of India was expected to…