5 Lesser-Known Facts About Supreme Court Building
Ask any informed citizen of India on which pillar (legislative, administrative or judiciary) of Indian democracy does he or she believe the most? The answer will most likely be: The judiciary. Acknowledged by the world over, India has a robust judicial system. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review – to strike down the legislative and executive action contrary to the provisions and the scheme of the Constitution, the distribution of power between Union and states or the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all the courts within the territory of India.
So, essentially the apex court symbolizes justice in the country. And, the Supreme Court building is what that comes to our mind when we think of justice delivery. In its formative years, the apex court met from 10am to 12 noon and then 2pm to 4pm in the afternoon for 28 days in a year. Today, it meets for 190 days in a year.
PropGuide lists five lesser-known but interesting facts about the Supreme Court building.
(Twitter: @IndiaHistorypics)
The foundation stone of the Supreme Court building was laid by the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, on October 29, 1954. While inaugurating the new building, Prasad had said: “I do not think it will fall into the lot of any of my successors to declare open such a 'Temple of Justice'.”The main block of the Supreme Court building was built on a 17-acre triangular plot in Hardinge Avenue, just opposite to the Hardinge Bridge (the area has been rechristened. The building is surrounded by Tilak Marg in the west, Mathura Road in the east and Bhagwan Dass Road in the south and Tilak Bridge in the north) and was designed by chief architect Ganesh Bhikaji Deolalikar, who was the first Indian to head CPWD, in an Indo – British architectural style.As Rajendra Prasad rightly pointed out that traditionally we look upon justice as a pair of scales, the two pans of which have to be held evenly without allowing the beam from which they hang to incline to any of its sides. Similarly, the apex court building is flanked by two wings. The right wing consists of the bar room, offices of the attorney general and other law officers and the library while the left wing is comprised of offices of the court.The Central beam from the ends of which the scales hang, comprises the Chief Justice's Court at the Centre with two court halls on the either side. There were two extensions -- one in 1979 and another in 1994.A black bronze sculpture shown many times on television during the coverage of the apex court is a 210cm long statue installed in the lawns of the Supreme Court on February 20, 1978. It portrays Mother India in the form of a woman sheltering the young Republic of India represented by the symbol of a child, who is upholding the laws of land symbolically shown in the form of an open book. On the book, a balance is shown, which represents dispensation of equal justice to all. The sculpture was made by renowned artist Shri Chintamoni Kar.
