subordinate Courts

Th S bordinate Courts
refer to the judicial system
e .u E stat in~
districts. very e 1·s divided into districts. The Ju
in the district includ . . di."l~
-;
es-district ~o~uts, c1~,
and family courts. They .e r~
deal with civil and cnm
mal c~
accordinoa to the Code of Civil Procedure an
d Cod..
Criminal Procedure. '-r

The District Judge

On the civil side, the C
ourt of the District Judg
highest court in the dist e is~
rict. In some districts A
District Judges are appo dditio~
inted to assist the Distri
Below the District Judge ct Jud~t
is the court of Civil Judg
Class). At the lowest tie e (F~
r of the Judiciary in th
is the Court of Sub Judg e distfi:
e or Munsif (Second an
Class) and Courts of Sm d 1hir
all Causes.
Appointment and Pow
ers of District Judg~
The Governor in cons
ultation with the Hig
appoints the district ju h Cou:
dges. A person who
government service shou is not :
ld have a m in im um of
years of experience at th sevt
e bar to become eligible
position of a district judg for t1
e. All judges, except the
Judge and Additional Dis Distri. \
trict Judge are selected
competitive examination throu~ \
held by the State Public
Commission. The rules re Servi( i
lating to the transfer, le
conditions of service of th
e District Judge and Ad
ave artl
District Judge are made by dition; 1
the High Court.
The District Judge, Add
Subordinate Civil Judge
itional District Judge
(First Class) can deal w
and th 1
without any limit to thei ith sut
r value. The jurisdiction
civH courts is completely of otlt
dependent on the value
of the sill
The Courts of small
causes decide cases am
to a value of ~l0,00O. Th oun~
Government. e valu e is decided by the Sta,

Heritage ·
 lht· St•1'-~ll'llS or \dd,111,1\.\l St·~s,ons Judl{r 1s empowered
fl, ,\\\,ml ,1 dc,\lh st•ntt'lllt' or hit' 1mpmonmt•nt. IIOWl'Vt'r,
tlw tk,1th St'l\lt'llt't' must be t·ontii 11\t'd hy the Hll{h Court
\)!' th.II Sl,\lt'.

Thumbnail
• Subordmate courta reftr to thi
Jud1c1al system at the district
le~ el.
• Subordmate courts conaiat of
C'i, ii nnd Crinunal Courts at the
d1stnC't lt-vel.

• Dt·dsion of the lower courts can

bt' l"t'Pt' ilrd nt n lught'r level.
SubNdin.itc JuJi.:1.m • Distrit•t Judges nnd Addittonnl
Crimiti.u Courts ,ludgl:"s should tw ndvot·nh·s for 1t
Ch ii Courts
k.1st ? yt•,1rs llr lw ollk111ls in tlw

Dimi,·t J·.1-:~,, ,,,

Pis<n,l Ht',ld Qu,utc'rs
Sessions udge t1f
1 ,h1di\·i.1l St'I\ in·sor the Union or
St,llt' Pub lit· St•t vit·t• Commission.
addition.\ .i,s:· :..:-! iuu~t'S aJ..iition,tl St'ssions Judges • Dist ric-t ,Judp,t·s or the Additionnl
1.l'llrt
(\)Uft - I Judgt•s d1.-.,I with civil cnst•s
Coun l11 :::-.,t-0'."d:,utt'
~• \...,
. \rliSi
Chief ~ktrorolitan 7 \\ lwrt•ns ., St•ssions Judgt' dt·nls
with the niminal \'I\S\'.
Chil u.:ge ~la")
:-:; J lagistr.1te l Cities) or
Chief 'udkLtl l\ tagistrate
\D1stncts'
~1uns. :··s Ct1urt or Court ~1etropolitian l\lagistrates Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate
oiSi..;b1udge or First Class Judicial or Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
11ag1strate
Ne)..'t in rank is the Court of the Chil·f Judici.11 or
Small Causes Courts Second class ·udicial
.Metropolitan l\lagistrate. lhc chit{ judici,1! magistrall'
C rnagistrates
cannot award a sentence of death or life imprisonm1.·nt.
not
se,, Criminal Courts TI1ey hear appeals against the wnlict of tlw second and
third class magistrates ,md can impose a fint' of~ 1.000
for Accordincr0 to the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, there
Jnd two ye,irs of imprisonml·nt or both.
are separate sets of magistrates for discharging executive
and judic1al functions. The executive magistrates- s:it'r♦ r1,s .. •udicial M1qistrate
District Magistrate or Additional District Magistrate are
I11e first class judicial m,,gistrnlcs he,1r appl•als ,1gainsl
under the control of the State government. 111e judicial
the decisions of the judicial magistrates of the scrnnd
magistrates, on the other hand, remain under the control
and third class. \ first class judicial 111,1gistrall' (an p,1ss a
of the High Court.
sentence of 11nprisonmcnt upto tlm'l' rc.1rs ,ind a fine not
d Sessions Court exceeding t5000 or both.

The highest criminal court of the district is the Court of
Se~s1ons Judge. It is generally presided over by the D1slricl
Judge, also known as the District and Sessions Judge 'lhe
tiJ Sessions Court deals with serious offences like murdci;
s~ robbery, etc.
c;prond Clase; Judicial Magistrates
A second class judicial 111,1g1st rate can pass a sentence
of imprisonnwnl up to two years and fine not ex~ccding
t 1000 01 both. 'I he nmrl of a second class Jt1d1c1al

Decree: An off1c1al ordPr that has the force of law.

t Court and )ubord1note Courts

The Sat Jue c ory. "1 g
 the Deputy Commissioner of a
m,gNrate i, estabh:ihed b)" tl1e )·ta.te ooovern ment in
. th
Distti
Revenue Department m e assessmect.
. . . ·tate
CO tatllln \\1th UleHigh C t Of the respeLl1,e ~ · nt
!)
our . . te of revenue. He hears ~ppeals fr~
' ) the lo ,-e) t te,cl ot the Cnminal m the j
Court ma Sta .
Deputy Collector and 1s the adm
inistrator Of
Tehsi\dars Court: The lowest
revenue
Tehsildars Court which hears
cases re
assessment and collection of rev
enue frolll
A Tehsildars Court is also respon
sible for the
of revenue and property taxes
after assess
Deputy Tehsildars.

Thumbnails
, Revenue Courts deal wit
h cas
relating to the maintena
nce 9
SJiorci1"ate Court ofTtrupur, Kerala land records an d the assess
ment
and collection of land revenu
e.
New Code of Cr~mina\ Proc • The Board of Revenue
Court is
edure 1973
-:he ~e ,,· Code of Criminal
Procedure made the following district.
cnanges: a Separation of the
Judiciary from the Executive,
ro .-'\.boliuon of the system of appoin ting honourary
• The Commissioner's
iila gis trat es, rc\ A person
deals with the assessment
cannot be kept in a police and
collection of revenue from
custody ior more than 15 day all
s and in a judicial custody districts in a division. en
for more than 60 days, (d) the
period of detention in jail • Collector's Court is headed ·ud
shall be counted against the by a
sentence of imprisonment; Deputy Commissioner who
and, (e) Compulsory legal aid helps 1h
at the expense of the state, if in the assessment and collec
tlle accused is too poor. tion
of revenue. l
Revenue Co urts
Revenue Courts deal wit h cas
es relating to the maintenance
• The Tehsildars Court is the
court of revenue and deals
the collection and assessme
lowest
with
nt of
'or
;~
of land records and the ass revenue fro m the farmers
essment and collection of th
land revenue. Revenue Court
s are divided into the four
categories in descending ord ~
Aj iiJ ilm
ES· l:i.
& -iil= ==- ---&ia....iiiiiliiiiililllllWdo
er. ~ i
Board of Revenue: The hig 0

district is the Board of Reven

hest revenue court in the
ue. It works directly under
the supervision of the High
appeals against the decisions
Court. It hears and decides
of the lower revenue courts.
Cu ."'lmissioner\ C., 1rt:
Next in rank is the
Commissioner's Court.
The Commissioner's Court
dea1s with the assessment
and collection of revenue.
His jurisdiction extends to
all the districts in a division.
The Commissioner is assiste
d by three or four Deputy
Commissioners.
Collector's Court: A Collec
tor's Court is the highest
revenue court in the distric
t. A collector is known as
lokAdalats a
A Lok Adalat means People
's Court. The main pu aI.;
of the Lok Adalat is to enc
.
the parties.
ourage set tlement be .
I
j
What is Lok Adalat1
Today, the main problem of
the Judiciary in India is
it is overburdened with work.
The increasing world
the law courts causes delay in
justice. Secondly, justic
become expensive for the poo
r and middle class P
As a solution to these problem,
the idea of a Lok A
People's Court became popula
r in the l 980's.

He ·
 wth of a Lok Adnlat
~---, ,\ , \\\H\\ttk\' ",\s sd up lll\\kr till' ll•adt•rship
'-'hf J\st1,1.· l'N Hh,\~\\,\li lo pt\\\'i\k kg.ll .1id to tht:
, ,) , ,.),t.•t-,1 l', \'>~$. t,,1 th\· tirst tinw l.1)k r\d,\l.lts
llfC\' h, ,! , , \ \·lh1 1h, \ \,k. \\l,\l.\ts \\'l'rt' in,\\lgur,\\t'd by
,\' ., ~h.l~\,.\h. ln 11.)$"'. lq~,\l Sl•n·ict·s :\nthorities
,-.1~ ,,,s..;,:,\ hi s1.·t ur ,1 juJki,\l svskm which could
\' f\\." ,1 h\ ,'l'!Ui','t,nt k~,\l S\'rYkt'S to the weakt·r
Sll\t ,' •s ,,t s1x1-'l\ to rnsur,' th.\t 1ustke is not denied to
, ,·· i ,'It ,\,"l:,)fl.lin~ tti this \ct (a) tht' Statt' or district
t~,•1 t•,s s 1.ul ,,r~~-1nist' l ,,k. -\\\.1bts ,It pl.\ct:, which they
,,, ·s·_,:_- nt.
\J:,) \ l \,\_ \\l.\l.U 1.wg.,mised for such an area
~-L· ,-,"IS\St ,,t ·\11.i1,1,1l 1.lrt1.ci::1ls sredfied by the state or
J s~·\,~ ,mthi.." -.,.,s..ln1.L t,·) -\ l 1.)k \d,1bt shall have the
'l . s,: ·, :1-,11 :,, ~'ll \' \tlSp\l\\'S on ,m m,1ttt·r falling within
1
th,· ~~ ,s,\\.:-,,,,n ,< ,1 1n ,·1, ll. ct \min,1.l or revenue court.
Composition and Functioning of a Lok
Adalat
Scope of Lok Adalats
A L~)k Adal_at deals with cases relating to marriage,
pl'llston, accident claims, electricity telephone bills, etc.
Lok Adalats have been held in Gujarat, Delhi and other
states. In December 1997, more than 17,000 Lok Adalats
were held in different parts of the country.
Advantages of a Lok Adalat
A Lok Adalat has the following advantages:
• Speedy Justice: It offers speedy justice. It can be used
even when a case is pending in a court The settlement
is made in a few days and the dispute is kept private.
• Friendly Atmosphere: They work in a friendly
atmosphere with a spirit of compromise and
understanding. The parties are thus able to speak freely.
• Reduces workload of courts: Lok Adalats reduce the
workload of the law courts and enable them to focus
on cases which require urgent attention and need to be
decided by them.

~ -. ,,, \,:1.' ',$ ,·011$,\t\11ed bY n District Judge who may

? lf;J. 'i,e . ~ ,' S,' · , · ,es ,, ,1 -:nag.str.:\te or ,my subordinate
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\ 1
,1;. . . fi.."'I ... .. ..., S ='t ':'OSe'.
• Lok Adalats or People's Courts
1"<' ·1ug,SlI,\te fi'\.es a particular date and
U-1-i,~- l'r •., _. were set up to solve cases that
were pending due to overload of
r ..1.:--:: t,, hold 1 s Lo" -\dalat for the settlement of the
1
work.
-~:s::-~·•t>. Toe s..:.1, o · :1. -..o'<-- .-\.d,11.lt can be any,vhere in the
• The main purpose of the Lok
,;'s . ..:-t ).,CT'rding to the convenience of the magistrate
Adalat is to encourage settlement
,, :;:.,:~e. Toe p.utks <1.re the11 .-equested to appear before between the parties.
the ~ 0\. \.d.u<1.t 1..1n the fixed date and place to settle the
• In 1985, a committee was set up
;.:is?~!tt' Toe p...-i,:-s Jre then asked to e-xplain the points under Chief Justice PN Bhagwati
,,f c.:.~pute The . o,;. A.dalat ,hen guides the parties and to provide legal aid to the poor.
1..',;;.er:.- ..1 sol: uo-- .o ,ht' parties if they fail to come to • A Lok Adalat deals with cases
.u:. . ;.~~ment. Fm:tlly, m agreement is made which is relating to marriage, pension,
.;, ..:.-ptal:-1e to both the parties. A decree issued by the accident claims, electricity and
telephone bills etc.
L,, ,._ \d~J.~ 1s deemed to be a decree of a civil court and
, c-1.r.dru.g on the p,1rties in 1... spute.

h g Cvd o.-,d Suborcl'note Cou:ris