The Supreme Court of India is often described as the most powerful court in the world. This power, in part, can be sourced from Article 145(3) of the Constitution, which prescribes that a bench of five or more judges decide matters that involve a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution.

At its inception in 1950, all eight judges of the Supreme Court sat together for all matters. This continued till 1956, after which the strength of the Supreme Court gradually started increasing, standing now at 34 since 2019. With the increase in both the Court’s workload and strength, the practice of all judges sitting together was not to last, with division benches of two or three judges becoming commonplace.