ROLE OF SUPREME COURT AS A GUARDIAN

INTRODUCTION

Supreme means anything that is above everything and if we attach this to the meaning of a Supreme Court, then a Supreme Court is a type of court that acts as the guardian of all the other courts within India. It can also be said that the Supreme Court acts as the guardian of the Indian Constitution. Supreme Court is also known as the Court of Last Resort or the Apex Court or the High Court of Appeal or the Highest Court within the hierarchy of courts. There are several names given to a single court which shows how high the dignity of a court can be and how it can perform wonders by being the guardian of the Indian Constitution. Once, a decision is given by the Supreme Court, it cannot be interfered with or changed by any other court within India.

In simpler words, the Hon’ble Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority, and as it is already covered earlier after the decision or the judgment given by the Supreme Court, it cannot be altered by any other court or we can define it as the Final Court of Appeal.

The Supreme Court is situated on Tilak Marg which is in New Delhi. It was established on 26th January 1950.

Our Hon’ble Supreme Court deals with all civil and criminal cases. The President of India finalizes/appoints the judges of the Supreme Court and one of the judges is the Chief Justice of India. For the selection of the judges to be a part of the Supreme Court, the President of India proceeds to a discussion with the Supreme Court’s judges.

ROLE OF THE SUPREME COURT AS A GUARDIAN

The Supreme Court plays an important role in being a guardian of the Indian Constitution. There are several roles of the Supreme Court that make it act as a guardian –

1. The Supreme Court solves the disputes happening between the central and the state governments. The Supreme Court assesses that if anything contravenes the values of the Constitution, then it can be considered wrongful.

2. One of the most essential roles of the Supreme Court is that it has full control over the Indian Constitution and acts as a shield and brightens each and every law. This is because every judgment that the Supreme Court gives is considered to be final.

3. As a guardian of the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court not only gives final and satisfied judgments, it also elucidates the meaning of the Constitution without contravening its actual basis.

4. When the fundamental rights of the citizens are violated, they have the right to file a case and seek justice. As we all know the Hon’ble Supreme Court has the responsibility of protecting the fundamental rights of the citizens, it also has the liability to give fair and accurate judgement to them in order to maintain the constitutionality of India.

5. It is very important for the laws passed to act in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India. If the laws do not adhere to the relevant provisions, then it is considered invalid by the Supreme Court.

6. One of the major roles of the Supreme Court is that it designates the judges and the Chief Justice of India upon looking at their qualifications. Without the judges and the Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court is incomplete. Due to them only, cases can be solved and justice is served to the citizens of India filing a case in the Supreme Court. In other words, the judges of the Supreme Court are also called intellectuals because they have a deep sense of knowledge about the field of law. Law is not only concentrated in a single sense; it is as vast as an ocean.

7. If a person breaches the provisions of law under the Indian Constitution, the Supreme Court has the responsibility to penalize that person under the eyes of the law. Similarly, if someone doesn’t obey and follows the orders of the court in any jurisdiction of India which can also be said that the person does not act in accordance with the laws or does Contempt of Court, then under Article 129, the Supreme Court penalizes the person if it is recognized that the person is blameworthy.

8. There are five types of writs in the Indian Constitution and those are- Mandamus, Certiorari, Quo-Warranto, Prohibition, and Habeas Corpus. The Supreme Court has authorized to provision of writs so that the citizens of India have their fundamental rights administered to them.

CONCLUSION

It is therefore learnt that the Indian Constitution has been given the highest authority in the country and to take care of the constitution, a court is needed. That court is honored as the Supreme Court.

When someone asks for justice and has full faith that they will be provided with the appropriate proceedings by the Supreme Court.

When an individual infringes the fundamental rights of any citizen, the Supreme Court is bound to punish them in order to keep a balance between the provisions of the Constitution and the fundamental rights that are relevant to them.

For example, an Indian citizen has been privileged with the fundamental rights of the constitution, but, one of the fundamental rights namely, the Right to Freedom of a particular citizen of a Scheduled Caste was violated. He was treated as if he had no existence. His freedom of speech was violated whenever he wanted to express himself in public or at a random social event. He went to the police to file an FIR but the police had contacts with the people of the society and thus, they refused to take the case in their hands. They said that they would not entertain these minor incidents in the list of FIRs. This infuriated the citizen which resulted in his filing a case in the Supreme Court.

Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the Supreme Court to give justice to the Indian citizen on the terms of the Right to Freedom. Any citizen of India, who belongs to a scheduled caste or is a general, doesn’t matter. The thing that matters is the justice and equality of the fundamental rights imposed on them.

Supreme Court is therefore the highest judicial authority as well as the highest desirable body for the Indian Constitution. It uses its power for fair and accurate judgments to serve justice for the people of the nation.

(Edited and Posted by Lawful Bytes Team)

SREEJA SRIVASTAVA

BBA LLB, 8th Semester

AU Patna