Nine-judge Constitution Benches in the Supreme Court so far

Transcript:

Did you know that the Supreme Court has seen 21 nine-judge Constitution Benches since 1950?

Constitution Benches take up matters involving a substantial question of law. They sit in the formation of five, seven, nine, eleven and thirteen-judges. 

The strength of the Constitution Bench matters. They often decide conflicting judgements, or address questions that the Court has never seen before. Nine-judge Benches are one of the largest formations the Supreme Court can sit in. This means that their decision carries weight. 

All nine-judge Benches are capable of setting precedents by either affirming or overruling decisions of Benches of lesser strength—including those delivered by a five- or seven-judge Bench. A nine-judge decision is always regarded as a decisive precedent, unless overruled a bench strength of eleven or thirteen judges. 

This year, the Supreme Court witnessed two nine-judge Bench hearings—in the definition of ‘industry’ and the Sabarimala Reference. They are the only pending nine-judge Bench matters in the Supreme Court according to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). 

Interested to know more? The Supreme Court Observer has you covered!

Visit scobserver.in to find a brief history of all nine-judge Bench decisions so far. You can access case-backgrounds, hearing reports and easy explainers of both the nine-judge Bench matters that the Court heard this year.