Seat and Procedure of the Supreme Court

Seat of court is the place where the Supreme Court of India physically sits to hear and decide cases, and it is fixed by Article 130 of the Constitution. The provision names Delhi as the default seat but leaves room for the Court to sit elsewhere, and it lays down a clear procedure for making that choice.

What Article 130 Says

Article 130 provides that the Supreme Court "shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint." Two things follow from this wording. First, Delhi is not written into the Constitution as a permanently fixed, unchangeable seat — it is simply the default location unless the Chief Justice acts. Second, any change is not left to the Chief Justice alone: it requires the President's approval, making the decision a joint one between the head of the judiciary and the head of the state.

The Procedure for Fixing or Changing the Seat

The procedure built into Article 130 has two steps:

1. The Chief Justice of India must decide, from time to time, whether the Court (or a part of it) should sit at a place other than Delhi.
2. That decision needs the President's approval before it can take effect.

This two-step design means neither the executive nor the judiciary can unilaterally relocate the Court. It reflects the same spirit of institutional balance seen elsewhere in the Constitution, where changes to the highest judicial institution's functioning are not left to one authority acting alone.

Why the Provision Matters

In practice, the Supreme Court has always sat in Delhi, and no order under Article 130 shifting it elsewhere, even temporarily, has been issued. But the provision keeps the door open for reasons of access to justice — litigants from distant states sometimes have to travel across the country to reach the Court in Delhi, and demands for regional or circuit benches surface periodically in public debate. Article 130 is the constitutional hook that any such change would eventually have to use, since the Constitution itself does not permit an ad hoc, informal relocation of the Court's seat.

Where Article 130 Fits Among the Supreme Court Articles

Article 130 is one of a cluster of provisions in Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution that together set out how the Supreme Court is constituted and how it functions. A few neighbouring provisions help place it in context.

Article	Subject Matter
124	Establishment and constitution of the Supreme Court
128	Attendance of retired judges at sittings of the Supreme Court
129	Supreme Court to be a court of record
130	Seat of the Supreme Court
131	Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
145	Rules of court
146	Officers, servants, and expenses of the Supreme Court

Read together, these provisions show that the Constitution treats questions such as where the Court sits, how it records its judgments, and how it frames its own procedural rules as related but distinct matters, each governed by its own dedicated article.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Article 130 deals with the seat of the Supreme Court; know that Delhi is the default, not a constitutionally locked location.
• Remember the two-step procedure: Chief Justice's decision plus presidential approval.

Mains

• Discuss whether Article 130 provides an adequate constitutional basis for setting up circuit or regional benches of the Supreme Court to improve access to justice.
• Analyse how Article 130 reflects a broader constitutional pattern of shared authority between the Chief Justice of India and the President in matters concerning the Supreme Court's functioning.

FAQ

Q1. Is Delhi permanently fixed as the seat of the Supreme Court by the Constitution? No. Article 130 names Delhi as the default seat, but the Chief Justice of India, with the President's approval, may appoint another place or places from time to time.

Q2. Can the Chief Justice of India shift the Supreme Court's seat on their own authority? No. The Chief Justice's decision to sit elsewhere becomes effective only with the President's approval — it is a joint decision, not a unilateral one.

Q3. Has the Supreme Court ever sat outside Delhi under Article 130? No formal order under Article 130 relocating or adding to the Court's seat has been issued; the Supreme Court has continued to sit in Delhi.

Q4. Does Article 130 create circuit benches of the Supreme Court? Not by itself. It only provides the constitutional mechanism through which sitting at another place could be authorised; actually setting up circuit or regional benches would require the Chief Justice and President to act under this provision.

Q5. Which part of the Constitution contains Article 130? Article 130 is in Part V (The Union), Chapter IV, which deals with the Union Judiciary, alongside other Supreme Court-related articles such as 124 to 147.

Quick Revision

• Article 130 — Seat of the Supreme Court.
• Default seat: Delhi.
• Change of seat: Chief Justice of India's decision + President's approval.
• No formal relocation has occurred so far.
• Article 130 sits within Part V, Chapter IV (Union Judiciary), alongside Articles 124–147.

Sources

• The Constitution of India, Article 130 — https://www.indiacode.nic.in/constitution

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act