Navigating through India's legal system requires a comprehensive understanding of its structure, hierarchy of courts, and various legal offices. Take this quiz to test your knowledge and deepen your understanding of the intricate legal framework in India. Structure, Hierarchy of Courts, and Legal Offices In India
Structure, Hierarchy of Courts, and Legal Offices In India
Single integrated system of judiciary
➡The Supreme Court located in New Delhi is the apex court of India.
➡ High Courts at the state level for one/more states
➡Lower courts: district and subordinate courts
➡Specialised tribunals: labour, consumer, service matter.
Supreme Court of India
➡The Supreme Court of India came into being on 28 January 1950.
➡It replaced both Federal Court of India Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
These were at the apex of the Indian court system, under the colonial era.
➡The Constitution of India originally envisaged a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and 7 Judges.
➡The Parliament was granted the power to increase the number of judges in the coming years.
➡At present, the total strength of the Supreme Court is 34 judges including the Chief Justice of India.
High Courts
➡India consists of 25 High Courts at the state/union territory level.
➡Each High Court has jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories.
➡Lower courts civil courts criminal courts specialised tribunals.
➡The Madras High Court in Chennai, Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Calcutta High Court in Kolkata and the Allahabad High Court in Allahabad are the first four High Courts in India
District and Sub-ordinate Courts
➡judicial districts presided over by a 'District and Sessions Judge'.
The judge is known as a 'District Judge' when she/he presides over a civil case and a 'Sessions Judge' when he presides over a criminal case.
➡The district judge is also called a 'Metropolitan Sessions Judge' when she/he is presiding over a district court in a city which is designated as a metropolitan area by the State government.
➡District judges may be working with Additional District judges, depending upon the judicial workload.
The district judge is the highest judicial authority below a High Court judge. The
➡District Court also holds appellate jurisdiction and supervision over all sub-ordinate courts below it.
Sub-ordinate Courts on the Civil side,
➡sub-ordinate Courts below the District Court include (in ascending order)
- Junior Civil Judge Court,
-Principal Junior Civil Judge Court,
-Senior Civil Judge Courts (also called sub-Courts).
Sub-ordinate Courts on the Criminal side
➡Sub-ordinate Courts on Criminal side (in ascending order) include-
-Second Class Judicial Magistrates Court,
-First Class Judicial Magistrate Court and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
Munsiff Courts
➡ Apart from the sub-ordinate Courts, Munsiff Courts also form a part of this hierarchy.
➡They are the lowest in terms of handling matters of civil nature and function below the sub-ordinate Courts.
➡Their pecuniary limits, meaning the Court's ability to hear matters upto a particular claim for money, are notified by respective State Governments.
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