State Judiciary Flashcards
High Court
The high court operates below Supreme Court but above subordinate courts
High Court occupies top position in judicial administration of state
Origin in India 1862 in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Fourth High Court in Allahabad in 1866.
Later each province in British India came to have its own High Court.
The constitution provides High Court for each state but the seventh amendment of 1956 tated that the Parliament may established a common High Court for 2 or more States or for two or more states and union territories
There are currently 25 High courts in the country
Delhi is the only union territory that has a high court of its own since 1966
Other union territories fall under the jurisdiction of different state high courts
Article 214 to 231 in part 4 deals with independence, organisation, jurisdiction, powers and procedures of high courts
The constitution does not specify the strength of High Court, leaving into the discussion of the president. Thus, the president determines the strengths of the high court from time to time depending upon its workload
Judge’s appointment
According to the Collegium system.
Qualification of judges:
Citizen of India
10 years experience of judiciary as an advocate or judicial officer
Both and affirmation by the governor
Salaries and allowances:
Determine time to time by Parliament, except during financial emergency
Also paid sumptuary and allowance
Other facilities provided are free accommodation, medical, car and telephone
Transfer of judges is done by the president after the consultation with CJI
The acting chief justice additional, acting judges and retired judges are same as in Supreme Court
Independence of High Court
Mode of appointment
Security of tenure
Fixed service conditions
Expenses charge on consolidated fund of India
Conduct of judges can’t be discussed
Ban on practice after retirement before High Court or below
Powered to punish for its contempt
Freedom to appoint its staff
Separation of power from executive
Power of High Court
Like Supreme Court the High Court has been vested with quite extensive and effective powers
Highest court of appeal in the state
Protector of fundamental rights
Vested with the power to interpret the constitution
It has supervisory and consultative roles
Constitution does not contain detailed provisions with regard to the jurisdiction and power of a High Court
Present jurisdiction and power of High Court are governed by the constitutional provisions, letters patent, acts of parliament, Indian penal Code of 1860, criminal procedure Code of 1973, civil procedure Code of 1908, acts of state legislature
Following jurisdiction and powers:
Original jurisdiction
Writ jurisdiction
Appellate Jurisdiction
Supervisory jurisdiction
Control over subordinate courts
A court of record
Power of judicial review
Subordinate courts
Three types of courts in India: Supreme Court, High Court, subordinate code (civil, criminal and revenue), district courts
These are under the control of high courts
All courts at the district level and below are known as also called subordinate courts
Judges appointed by governor in consultation with the high court
Article 233 to 238 of part 6 of constitution is related to these courts
Provisions to regulate the organisation of subordinate courts and to ensure their independence from the executive
Organisational structure:
Below district and session courts are Court of subordinate judge on civil side and court of chief judicial magistrate on criminal site.
Appointment of district judges:
The appointment, posting and promotion of district judges in a state are all made by the governor of the respective state after consultation with high court
Qualifications:
Should not already be in the service of the central or state government
Should have been an advocate or a pleader for 7 years
Should be recommended by high court for appointment
The district judges are the highest judicial authority in district and poses original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction for both civil and criminal matters.
When he leads with civil cases he is district judge and when he deals with criminal cases he is sessions judge
Appointment of other judges:
Appointment of percent other than the district judges to the judicial service of a state are made by the governor of state after consultation with the SPSC and High Court
Powers:
The district judge exercises both judicial and administrative powers
Supervisory powers over all the subordinate courts in the district
Appeals against his orders and judgements lie to the High Court
Sessions judge’s powers:
He has the power to impose any sentence including life imprisonment and capital punishment (death penalty)
But the capital punishment passed by him is subject to confirmation by the High Court, whether there is an appeal or not
Subordinate judge exercises unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction over civil suits
Chief judicial magistrate decides criminal cases which are punishable with imprisonment for a term of upto 7 years
Court of munsif possesses limited jurisdiction and decides civil cases of small pecuniary stake
Judicial magistrate tries criminal cases which are punishable within imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years
In some metropolitan state the city civil courts have chief judges on the civil side
And in courts of metropolitans, magistrates on the criminal side
In some States the panchayat courts try petty civil and criminal cases. These are called, nyaya panchayat, gram kutchery, Adalati panchayat and panchayat Adalat
National legal services authority
It is a launched web application for free legal services to prisoners at the conference held at Indian Law Institute of New Delhi
The conference for the participation of members secretaries and administrative officers of 18 state legal services authorities
The legal services management system has been developed by the National informatics centre
The web application will help in making legal services system more transparent
Its aim is to ensure that opportunities for security justice are not the night to any citizen by the reasons of economic or other disabilities
The Ministry of law and justice launched the Tele-Law initiative in collaboration within the ministry of electronics and information tech
Its aim is to provide legal aid services to the marginalised community and citizens living in rural areas via common service centres at the panchayat level
Tele-Law is a new portal which will be made available across CSC network to connect the citizens to legal service providers
Lok Adalat
It is a forum
Lok Adalat means people’s court
It is based on Gandhian principles
It is one of the components of alternative dispute resolution system
Cases and disputes which are pending in court at the pre litigation stage are compromise or settled in an amicable manner
Supreme Court has explained the meaning of Lok Adalat in the following way: the Lok Adalat is an old form of system prevail in ancient India and its validity has not been taken away even in the modern ways too
Indian courts are over burdened with a backlog of cases
Regular course are to decide cases involving a lengthy, expensive and tedious procedure
Lok Adalat provides alternative resolution and device for expeditious and inexpensive justice
Statutory status: the first look Adalat was set up in the post independence era Gujarat in 1982
It is an initiative which proved very successful in the settlement of disputes
Consequently the institution of Lok Adalat started spreading to other parts of the country
It was given statutory status under legal services authorities act of 1987
Who can organised Lok Adalats:
Committees or authorities like state legal services authority, district legal service authority, Supreme Court legal service authority, high court legal services authority and legal services committee
At intervals and places and for exercising such jurisdiction and for such areas as it thinks fit
Consists of a number of serving or retired judicial officers, other persons of area as may be specified by agency organising such a Lok Adalat, judicial officer = chairman and lawyer, social worker= members
Matters taken up in Lok Adalat:
Matrimonial and familial disputes
Criminal cases (compoundable offences)
Land acquisition cases
Labour disputes
Workmen’s compensation cases
Bank recovery cases
Pension cases
Housing board and slum clearance cases
Housing finance cases
Consumer grievance cases
Electricity matters
Disputes relating to telephone bills
Municipality matters including house tax cases
Disputes with cellular companies
Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction in any case pending before any court and in any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of any court and is not brought before such Court
The Lok Adalat shall not have jurisdiction in respect of any case on matter related to an offence not compoundable under any law
Any case pending before law can be referred to Lok Adalat for settlement if the parties there are in agreement to settle the dispute in the Lok Adalat. If one of the parties there makes an application to the court for referring the case to the Lok Adalat, then the court is satisfied that the matter is appropriate to be cognizant of by Lok Adalat
The look Adalat shall have some powers as vested in civil court under the code of civil procedure of 1908
Lok Adalat shall have the requisite power to specify its own procedure for the determination of any dispute coming before it
Every award made by Lok Adalat shall be final and binding on all parties to the disputes and no appeal shall lie to any court against the award of the Lok Adalat
Benefits of Lok Adalat:
No court fee
If court fee is already paid the amount will be refunded if the dispute is settle that Lok Adalat
Not complex, no strict procedural laws like the civil procedure code and the evidence act
Parties to the dispute can directly interact with the judge
Award by the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties, to not cause delay in settlement
As per the law commission of India, the summarized advantages of alternative dispute resolution are: is cheap, it is fast, it is free from technicalities in terms of conducting cases in law courts. The parties are free to discuss their differences of opinion without any fear or disclosure before any law courts
Parties have the feeling that there is no losing or winning side between them, but at the same time that grievance is redressed and their relationship is restored
Permanent Lok Adalat:
Established under legal services authorities act of 1987 amended in 2002
Aim is to provide for the establishment of permanent Lok Adalats to deal with causes pertaining to public utility services
Reason:
Free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society
Legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity
Spirit of conciliation outside the courts
Drawbacks:
Based on compromise and settlement between the parties
If the parties don’t arrive at any compromise or settlement, then the case is returned to the court of law, causing unnecessary delay.
Wayout:
Cases which arise in relation to public utility services like Mahanagar telephone Nigam limited (MTNL) or Delhi Vidyut Parishad needs to be settled
Family court
Enacted under the family courts act of 1984
Its aim is to promote conciliation and secure speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriages and family affairs
Family courts are separate because:
Family courts are set up for the settlement of family disputes where emphasis should be laid on conciliation and achieving socially desirable results and adherence to rigid rules of procedure and evidence should be eliminated
The Law Commission in its 59th report of 1974 had also stress that in dealing with disputes concerning the family, the court ought to adopt and approach radically different from the one adopted in ordinary civil proceedings and that it should make reasonable efforts and settlement before the commencement of trial
Code of civil procedure amended in 1976 provides special procedure to be adopted in suits or proceeding relating to matter concerning the family
Court deal with family dispuse in the same manner as other civil matters and the same adversary approach prevails
The main objectives and reasons for setting up of family courts:
To create a specialised code which will exclusively deal with family matter so that such a cone may have the necessary activities to deal with these cases expeditiously
To Institute of mechanism for conciliation of the disputes relating to family
To provide an inexpensive remedy
To have flexibility and an informal atmosphere in the conduct of proceedings
Gram nyayalayas
Enacted under gram nyayalayas act of 2008
Purpose:
To provide access to justice to the poor citizens at their door steps
Setting up gram nyayalayas in the rural areas would bring to the people of rural areas speedy, affordable and substantial justice
To ensure opportunities for securing justice is not denied to any citizen due to socio-economic or other disabilities
Reasons:
Access to justice by the poor and disadvantaged remains a worldwide problem
In our country, article 39A the state to secure the operation of a legal system, which promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity
Provides free legal aid to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by the reason of economic or other disabilities
Government has taken various measures to strengthen the judicial system
By simplifying the procedural laws and incorporation of various alternative dispute resolution by arbitration, constellation and mediation
Requires to be strengthened further
Law Commission of India:
In the 114th report on gram nyayalayas
Suggested establishment of gram nyayalayas so that justice could be provide to the common man in an inexpensive, speedy and substantial way
The gram nyayalayas act of 2008 is broadly based on the recommendations of the law commission
Gram nyayalay shall be a court of judicial magistrate of first class
Its presiding officer or nyayadhikari shall be appointed by the state government in consultation with the high court
Gram nayalyas shall be established for every panchayat at intermediate level or a group of contiguous panchayats at intermediate level in district
Same salary, same powers as first class magistrates working under high court
Gram nyayalayas shall be mobile court and shall exercise the powers of both criminal and civil court
The seat of gram nyayalaya will be located at the headquarter of intermediate panchayat. They will go to village and work there to dispose the cases
Gram nyayalay shall try criminal cases, civil suits and claims and disputes
Certain modifications shall be made and special procedure shall be followed as per the act
Gram nyayalay shall follow the summary procedure in criminal trial
Gram nyayalay shall exercise powers of the civil courts and settle the disputes as far as possible by bringing about conciliation between the parties
Gram nyayalay shall not be bound by the Indian evidence Act of 1872 but shall be guided by the principles of natural justice
Appeal in criminal cases shall lie to the court of session, which shall be heard and disposed of within a period of 6 months from the date of filing
Appeal in civil cases shall lie to the district court and be heard and disposed of within a period of 6 months
Majority of States have Now set up regular courts at taluka level
The state government and high court should decide the question of establishment of gram nyayalay where ever feasible, taking into account their local problems
