Now, visit Supreme Court of India(SCI) on a guided tour Thursday Nov 01,2018

The Supreme Court of India(SCI) one of independent India’s first major buildings to be designed by an Indian architect, has opened its doors for guided tours. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi launched the project on Thursday Nov 01,2018  at a small function held at the Judges’ Lounge in the court. He said the idea behind the venture was that “a public institution should be opened up in a limited way.”

An in-house think tank was also launched to strengthen the court’s knowledge infrastructure.
The tours are free of charge and will be conducted between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. every Saturday, except on declared holidays. The excursion will be rounded off with a visit to the Supreme Court museum. A guide will educate batches of 20 visitors on historic cases and the architecture of the building. The tour will culminate in a short film about the court.

Visitors will have to comply with the tour rules, which include a ban on smoking, bringing eatables, tobacco items, cameras and backpacks. “Being the highest legal authority of the nation, it is imperative that visitors maintain proper decorum commensurate with the dignity of the esteemed establishment,” a statement issued by the court said.

Online booking

Visitors can book their tour online. Once they arrive, they will be ushered through the majestic courtrooms and the plush Judges’ Library and introduced to the imposing structure in all its glory.
 According to the book Courts of India Past to Present, compiled by an editorial board led by Justice S.A. Bobde, the Supreme Court structure is unlike the President’s House and the Parliament Building, which hark back to the colonial period and were designed by British architects.

Designed by the architect Ganesh Bhikaji Deolalikar, the court, with its pillared portico and the front verandah, is in the neo-classical style of architecture.
An aerial view of the building reveals that the architecture symbolises the scales of justice. The dome crowning the central wing roofs the court of the Chief Justice of India, the largest courtroom in the building.
In the middle of the interior lawn and amid ornamental shrubs is the sculpture of a mother and son, made by modernist sculptor Chintamuni Kar.