Article 124 — Establishment and Constitution of Supreme Court

(1) There shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than thirty-three other Judges.

(2) Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years: Provided that in the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of India shall always be consulted.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The phrase 'after consultation' in clause (2) was interpreted by the Supreme Court in S. P. Gupta v. Union of India (1981) to mean that the President was not bound by the CJI's advice. The Second Judges Case (Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association v. Union of India, 1993) reversed this, holding that 'consultation' means 'concurrence' and that the CJI's recommendation is binding. The Third Judges Case (1998) developed the collegium system further, requiring the CJI to consult the four senior-most judges. The 99th Amendment (2014) attempted to replace this with the National Judicial Appointments Commission, which was struck down in 2015.

• 7th Amendment (1956) — Increased maximum number of judges.

• Article 50
• Article 125
• Article 130
• Article 131
• Article 136
• Article 143
• Article 214

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026