Crowded corridors of justice

The Supreme Court delivered 1,293 judgments last year; only 3.3 per cent dealt with the Constitution

The Federal Court, predecessor of the Supreme Court of India, sat only when a case came up before it, which was not quite often. When the Supreme Court was established in 1950, the list of cases was so small that it was published like in the Engagements column in some Delhi newspapers. Times have changed. Now the case list runs into hundreds of printed pages, and heard by 34 judges sitting in 16 court rooms. The number of lawyers has increased 50 times. This has led to overcrowded corridors and court rooms, leaving the Chief Justice and the Attorney General