The Supreme Court plans to establish a permanent Constitution bench with varying compositions to address cases referred to benches of five, seven, and nine judges, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said.
The nine-judge bench will handle 135 cases, including the one related to the entry of women of all age groups into places like the Sabarimala temple, mosques, and agiyaris. While addressing three critical constitutional issues, which include the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act introduced after the Assam Accord of 1985, the validity of constitutional amendments to Section 334 aimed at preserving the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and assemblies, and the correctness of the 1998 ruling that granted immunity to MPs and MLAs in cases of vote-for-bribe scams, the Chief Justice said that Constitution benches with different compositions would become a permanent fixture.
He also stated his intention to schedule hearings thoughtfully and even constitute a nine-judge bench to handle pending matters. This step aligns with the original objectives of the framers of the Constitution, who vested the Supreme Court with exclusive jurisdiction to address inter-state and Centre-state disputes, established the decisions of the Supreme Court as binding law nationwide, and granted it extensive powers under Article 142 to ensure complete justice.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court serves as the ultimate court of appeal for cases challenging decisions made by High Courts.