THE INDIAN COURT SYSTEM

KEERAT MARWAH & ANIKA JHAVERI

THE LEGAL CORNER

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in India. Let us discuss the following aspects regarding the Supreme Court:

• COMPOSITION:

It consists of the Chief Justice and other 30 judges. The President may appoint an ad hoc judge at the request of the Chief Justice.

• APPOINTMENT:

Every judge of the Supreme Court is appointed by the President of India after consultation with such judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts of States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose. However, in the matter of appointment of a judge other than the Chief Justice, consultation of the Chief Justice of India by the President is obligatory.

• QUALIFICATIONSs:

To be a judge of the Supreme Court, one must be

1. A citizen of India
2. Has been a judge of a High Court at least for five years; or
3. Has been an advocate of a High Court for at least ten years
4. Is a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the President.

•      TENURE:

A judge of the Supreme Court retires at the age of 65 years. He may also resign from his office.

• REMOVAL:

A judge of the Supreme Court can also be removed by the President from his position only on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity if a resolution in this regard is passed by the Parliament supported by two-thirds of the members present and voting in each Hose and the majority of the total membership of each House.

HIGH COURT’s OF INDIA

The Constitution provides for a High Court in every State which works under the Supreme Court of India. But in some cases, one High Court serves more than one State. For example, the Gauhati High Court serves not only Assam but also the other States of the North-Eastern region.

•       COMPOSITION:-

The High Court consists of a Chief Justice and other judges. There is no fixed number regarding the judges of the High Courts. The President may also appoint a qualified person as an additional judge in a High Court for two years.

•       APPOINTMENT:-

The judges of the High Court are appointed by the President of India. The President appoints the Chief Justice of a High Court after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the State.

•      QUALIFICATIONS:-

To be a judge of a High Court one must be :

1. A citizen of India,
2. He must have held for, at least ten years a judicial office in the territory of India or;
3. He must been for, at least, ten years an advocate of a High Court.

•      TENURE:-

A judge of a High Court retires at the age of 62 years. He may also resign from his office at any time.

•    REMOVAL:-

The President may remove a judge of High Court on the ground of “proved misbehavior or incapacity”.

• JURISDICTIONS:-

• Original Jurisdiction –

 Under the original jurisdiction, a High Court has the power to issue direction or orders including writs to any person, authority and any government within its jurisdiction against the violation of the Fundamental Rights of the citizens. It has limited original jurisdiction in cases relating to admiralty, will, divorce, marriage, company laws and contempt of Court.

•   Appellate Jurisdiction

Under this jurisdiction, a High Court has the power to hear appeals about civil and criminal cases against the decisions of the lower Courts.

• Administrative Jurisdiction

   Under the jurisdiction, a High Court has the authority to supervise the workings of all subordinate Courts. It can issue general rules to regulate their proceedings. The judges of the subordinate Courts are appointed, promoted and transferred in consultation with the High Court of the state.

•   Other Jurisdiction

(a) The judgments of the High Courts are regarded and considered authoritative and serve as case law.

(b) A High Court can start contempt proceedings against anyone who is found to indulge in contempt of the court.

(c) Every High Court can admit Public Interest Litigation like that of the Supreme Court of India.

THE DISTRICT & SESSIONS COURTS:

The district & sessions court are the courts that are below High Courts. These courts are also known as subordinate or lower courts. When a judge presides over civil cases , he is known as a District judge. When the judge presides over criminal cases, he is known as Sessions judge.

The district & sessions court can be divided into two main branches namely Criminal courts and Civil courts. Though the basic structure is mostly the same but it differs from state to state depending upon the area and the workload.

 THE CRIMINAL COURTS

The criminal courts can be divided under two further heads; court of sessions and court of magistrates. The jurisdiction of the criminal courts are both; original and appellate.

 

• COURT OF SESSIONS

For the purpose of distribution of district courts, the state is divided into units. These units are nothing but the district or groups of district. Each such unit has its own session’s court. The sessions judge is appointed by the High Court. Depending upon the area and the workload, the high court may also appoint an additional session judges and assistant session judge. The district judge is the highest judge in the district. the above mentioned judges try serious offences like homicides, thefts, dacoities etc. They also have the power to pass the life imprisonment, capital punishment sentences and fine without any limit. Though they have to be confirmed by the high court. But the assistant sessions judge has the power to give punishment only up to 10 years and fine without limit.

• COURT OF MAGISTRATES

The courts of magistrates are below court of sessions. A district has chief judicial magistrate, additional chief judicial magistrate and sub divisional magistrate. The latter two depends and varies from state to state. After these, come judicial magistrate of first class and judicial magistrate of second class. Also, the high court can appoint a special judicial magistrate only on the advice of the government.

Hence, the chief judicial magistrate can pass any sentence but can’t pass that of death, life imprisonment or the imprisonment, which exceeds 7 years. The judicial magistrate of first class can any sentence in which the imprisonment shouldn’t exceed the term of 3 years and the fine (not to exceed) 5 thousand rupees or that of death. The judicial magistrate of second class can pass any sentence of imprisonment, which shouldn’t exceed the term of 1 year or the fine of 1 thousand rupees.

Also in case of big cities where the population exceeds 1 million, those areas are termed as metropolitan areas. These areas too have a chief metropolitan magistrate, additional metropolitan magistrate and a metropolitan magistrate. On special appeal, there can be a special metropolitan magistrate.

The chief metropolitan and additional metropolitan magistrates are equivalent to the chef judicial magistrate, which means that they can give imprisonment upto 7 years and fine.

THE CIVIL COURTS

Just like the criminal courts, the civil courts too have a hierarchy and it differs from state to state depending upon the areas and the work type. The state is divided into several districts, each having its own district court followed by lower courts in a sequence. The highest court in the district is the District Judge’s Court. It has original as well as appellate jurisdiction and therefore hears cases from lower courts upto a certain limit. In matters whereby the appeals are of higher denomination, it goes straight away to the high court.

• SUBORDINATE JUDGE’S COURT

The subordinate judge’s court comes right after the district court. The court has different designations varying from state to state namely they are, Subordinate Judges, Civil Judges (Senior Division) and so on. The Pecuniary Jurisdiction of the civil courts is fixed by the state from time to time.

• DISTRICT MUNIFF’S COURT

The above-mentioned court is also known as Court of Junior Civil Judge.Just like the Subordinate Judges Court, the designation of this court changes from state to state. The Pecuniary Jurisdiction of the state changes from time to time according to the state’s decision.

• SMALL CAUSES COURT

Apart from the above-mentioned hierarchy in civil courts, there is Small Causes Court, which can be established by the State Government under the provincial Small Causes Court Act, 1887. They have jurisdiction up to a certain amount (which the government can change from time to time). The decisions taken by them is final but are subjected to power of revision by the High Court.