The Constitution of India
Proviso omitted by ibid. This amendment has been struck down by the Supreme Court order dated the 16th October,
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Official source2015 in the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association Vs. Union of India reported in AIR 2016 SC 117.
5. Substituted by the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, s.2, for the words “Provided further that”
(w.e.f.13.4.2015). This amendment has been struck down by the Supreme Court vide its order dated 16th October,
2015 in the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association and Another Vs. Union of India reported in AIR 2016
SC 117.
60 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
(Part V. — The Union)
(a) a Judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his
office;
(b) a Judge may be removed from his office in the manner provided in clause (4).
1
[(2A) The age of a Judge of the Supreme Court shall be determined by such authority
and in such manner as Parliament may by law provide.]
(3) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court
unless he is a citizen of India and—
(a) has been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such
Courts in succession; or
(b) has been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more
such Courts in succession; or
(c) is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.
Explanation-I:- In this clause “High Court” means a High Court which exercises, or
which at any time before the commencement of this Constitution exercised, jurisdiction in
any part of the territory of India.
Explanation-II:- In computing for the purpose of this clause the period during which a
person has been an advocate, any period during which a person has held judicial office not
inferior to that of a district judge after he became an advocate shall be included.
(4) A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an
order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a
majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds
of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the
same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
1. Inserted by the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, s.2.
61 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
(Part V. — The Union)
(5) Parliament may by law regulate the procedure for the presentation of an address and
for the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour or incapacity of a Judge under clause (4).
(6) Every person appointed to be a Judge of the Supreme Court shall, before he enters
upon his office, make and subscribe before the President, or some person appointed in that
behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the
Third Schedule.
(7) No person who has held office as a Judge of the Supreme Court shall plead or act
in any court or before any authority within the territory of India.
1
[124A. National Judicial Appointments Commission:- (1) There shall be a Commission
to be known as the National Judicial Appointments Commission consisting of the following,
namely:—
(a) the Chief Justice of India, Chairperson, ex officio;
(b) two other senior Judges of the Supreme Court next to the Chief Justice of
India - Members, ex-officio;
(c) the Union Minister in charge of Law and Justice—Member, ex officio;
(d) two eminent persons to be nominated by the committee consisting of the
Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition in the House of
the People or where there is no such Leader of Opposition, then, the Leader of single
largest Opposition Party in the House of the People— Members:
Provided that one of the eminent person shall be nominated from amongst the persons
belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes,
Minorities or Women:
Provided further that an eminent person shall be nominated for a period of three years
and shall not be eligible for renomination.
(2) No act or proceedings of the National Judicial Appointments Commission shall be
questioned or be invalidated merely on the ground of the existence of any vacancy or defect
in the constitution of the Commission.
1. Inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, s.3 (w.e.f.13.4.2015). This amendment has been
struck down by the Supreme Court vide its order dated the 16th October, 2015 in the Supreme Court Advocates-on-
Record Association and Another Vs. Union of India reported in AIR 2016 SC 117.
62 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
(Part V. — The Union)
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The Constitution of India · legislative.gov.in · Retrieved 17 August 2026.
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