Which Article of the Constitution of India grants power to the President to appoint Judges of the Supreme Court?
- (a)Article 124(2)
- (b)Article 123(1)
- (c)Article 128(4)
- (d)Article 127(3)
Answer
Why
Correct — A. Article 124(2) is the clause that empowers the President to appoint every Judge of the Supreme Court, by warrant under his hand and seal, after consultation with such Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as he considers necessary.
Its proviso carries the rule asked about most often: for any appointment other than the Chief Justice's own, the Chief Justice of India must always be consulted. The same clause fixes the retirement age of a Supreme Court judge at 65. That is option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)Article 123(1) — Article 123 has nothing to do with judges. It is the President's power to promulgate ordinances when Parliament is not in session — an adjacent number with a wholly different subject.
- (c)Article 128(4) — Article 128 lets the Chief Justice of India, with the President's consent, request a retired judge to sit and act as a Judge of the Supreme Court. It is about attendance, not about appointment.
- (d)Article 127(3) — Article 127 provides for ad hoc judges — a High Court judge asked to attend the Supreme Court when there is no quorum. Again a sitting arrangement, not the appointing power.
Concept
The Constitution keeps the Supreme Court in one short run of articles, and three of the four options here are drawn from inside it — only Article 123, the ordinance power, comes from outside.
Article 124 establishes the Court and governs its judges: 124(1) the Court itself, 124(2) appointment and tenure, 124(3) qualifications, 124(4) the removal procedure.
Articles 125 to 128 then handle salaries, the acting Chief Justice, ad hoc judges and retired judges sitting again. Learn the block, not the single number, and the wrong options answer themselves.
Formally the President appoints. In practice the names come from the collegium.
The 99th Constitutional Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission would have replaced that arrangement, and the Supreme Court struck both down in 2015, leaving the collegium in place. The text of Article 124(2) itself is unchanged.
Key facts
- Article 124(2): Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President and hold office until the age of 65.
- The proviso to Article 124(2) makes consultation with the Chief Justice of India compulsory for every appointment other than the Chief Justice's own.
- Article 123 is the ordinance-making power, Article 127 covers ad hoc judges and Article 128 the attendance of retired judges.
- The 99th Amendment and the NJAC Act were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015.
Study next
Common traps
- Confusing Article 124, which governs Supreme Court judges, with Article 217, which governs High Court judges.
- Being drawn by the bracketed sub-clause numbers in the wrong options, when it is the article number that decides the answer.
Article-number matching is a staple of SSC's polity slot, and this shift also asks it at General Awareness Q.17, on the article dealing with the organisation of village panchayats, and at Q.18, on the article containing the Fundamental Duties.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.