    the supreme court of india is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the constitution of india, the highest constitutional court, with the power of constitutional review. it comprises the chief justice of india and 30 other judges. it has original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions. as the final court of appeal of the country, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the high courts of various states of the union and other courts and tribunals. the supreme court has extensive original jurisdiction for the protection of fundamental rights of citizens. it also acts as the court to settle disputes between various governments in the country. as an advisory court, it hears matters which may specifically be referred to it under the constitution by the president of india. it also may take cognisance of matters on its own (or 'suo moto'), without anyone drawing its attention. the law declared by the supreme court becomes binding on all courts within india. ==history== in 1861 the indian high courts act 1861 was enacted to create high courts for various provinces and abolished supreme courts at calcutta, madras and bombay and also the sadar adalats in presidency towns which had acted as the highest court in their respective regions. these new high courts had the distinction of being the highest courts for all cases till the creation of federal court of india under the [[government of 
National_supreme_courts Supreme_Court_of_India