A PROJECT REPORT ON - THE JUDICIARY

SCHOOL OF LAW
MANIPAL UNIVERSITY JAIPUR

UNDER SUPERVISION OF: Ms. RADHIKA MOHAN GUPTA

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

SUBMITTED BY:GAUTAM WARIKOO

151301032

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Gautam Waikoo student of B.A. LL.B(Hons.) third semester
school of Law Manipal University Jaipur has completed the project work entitled The
Judiciary under my supervision and guidance.
It is further cerify that the candidate has made sincere efforts for the completion of the project
work.

SUPERVISOR NAME

(Ms. RADHIKA MOHAN GUPTA)

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express deep sense of gratitude and indebtness to our teacher Ms. Radhika Mohan Gupta
under whose guidance valuable suggestions,constant encouragement and kind supervision the
present project was carried out. I am also grateful to college faculty of law for their feedback
and for keeping us on schedule.
I also wish to express my sincere thanks to my friends who held directly or indirectly by
giving their valuable suggestions.

Gautam Warikoo

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 4
Judicial System in India.............................................................................................. 6
Supreme Court of India.............................................................................................. 6
High Courts.............................................................................................................. 6
District and Subordinate Courts................................................................................... 8
Tribunal.................................................................................................................. 8
Appointments of Judges.............................................................................................. 9
Fast Track Courts.................................................................................................... 10
Lok Adalats............................................................................................................ 10
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 12
WEBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................. 13

INTRODUCTION

The Indian Judiciary administers a common law system of legal jurisdiction, in which
customs, precedents and legislation, all codify the law of the land. It has in part, inherited the
legacy of the legal system established by the then colonial powers and the princely states
since the mid-19th century, and has partly retained characteristics of practices from the
ancient and medieval times.
There are various levels of judiciary in India different types of courts, each with varying
powers depending on the tier and jurisdiction bestowed upon them. They form a strict
hierarchy of importance, in line with the order of the courts in which they sit, with
the Supreme Court of India at the top, followed by High Courts of respective states with
district judges sitting in District Courts and Magistrates of Second Class and Civil Judge
(Junior Division) at the bottom. Courts hear criminal and civil cases, including disputes
between

individuals

and

the

government.

The

judiciary

is

independent

of

the executive and legislative branches of government according to the Constitution of India.

Judicial System in India1

The Government of India has three different independent branches namely the Executive, the
Legislative and the Judiciary. The Indian judicial system was formed by the British during
their colonial rule in the country. This system is known as the Common Law System in which
the judges develop the laws with their judgments, orders and decisions. The different types of
courts form the different levels of judiciary in the country. The apex court of India is the
Supreme Court, located in New Delhi, followed by the high courts in different states. The
high courts are followed by the district courts and subordinate courts which are also known as
the lower courts.

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India came into being on 28 January 1950 and substituted the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council and the Federal Court of India which were the apex legal
system under the colonial rule in India. There is one Chief Justice and 30 other judges in the
Supreme Court who are appointed by the Indian President. These judges retire after the
1 www.mapsofindia.com Government of India JudiciaryLast accessed 10/08/2016, 9:00 pm

attainment of the age of 65 years. The apex court works extensively for the protection of the
fundamental rights of the Indian citizens. It is also a supreme authority as it settles the
disputes within several governments of the country. It also has an authority to review any
judgement or order earlier passed by it and can also transfer cases from one high court to
another and from one district court to another.

High Courts
The supreme judicial powers at the state level lie with the high courts of India. There are 24
high courts in the country which hold jurisdiction over a state, union territory or a group of
union territories or states. Being established in 1862, Calcutta High Court is the oldest high
court in India. Being the appellate authority of state or group of states, the high courts have
similar authorities and powers like that of the apex court, except for the difference of
territorial jurisdiction of high courts which is varied. The high courts may also have original
jurisdiction in certain cases if permitted under the federal law system. There are lower courts
- civil or criminal, and tribunals which function under the high courts. All the high courts
come
Following

under

the

jurisdiction

is

the

list

of

of
the

Supreme
24

high

Court
courts

of
of

India.
India:

High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana)

High Court of Judicature at Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh)

Bombay High Court (Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Daman and
Diu)

Calcutta High Court (West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands)

Chhattisgarh High Court

Delhi High Court (National Capital Territory of Delhi)

Gujarat High Court

Gauhati High Court (Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh)

Himachal Pradesh High Court

Jammu and Kashmir High Court

Jharkhand High Court

Karnataka High Court

Kerala High Court (Kerala and Lakshadweep)

Madras High Court (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry)

Madhya Pradesh High Court

Meghalaya High Court

Manipur High Court

Orissa High Court (Odisha)

Patna High Court (Bihar)

Punjab and Haryana High Court (Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh)

Rajasthan High Court

Sikkim High Court

Uttarakhand High Court

Tripura High Court

District and Subordinate Courts2

The district and the subordinate courts are the courts below the high courts. These courts
administer jurisdiction at the district level in India. The district courts are at the top of all the
subordinate courts but fall under the administrative control of the state high court to which
that district belongs to. The jurisdiction in the districts of the states is presided over by
District and Sessions Judge. The judge is referred to as a District Judge when he presides
over the civil cases and as a Sessions Judge when he presides over criminal cases. He is
addressed as a Metropolitan Sessions Judge when he presides over a district court in a city
which is recognised as a metropolitan city or area by the state government. The District Judge
is

also

the

highest

judicial

authority

after

the

High

Court

2 www.mapsofindia.com Government of India JudiciaryLast accessed 10/08/2016, 9:15 pm

Judge.

The district courts also hold jurisdiction over the subordinate courts. For handling civil cases,
the subordinate courts, in ascending order, are Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior
Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Courts. For handling criminal cases the ascending
order of the subordinate courts is Second Class Judicial Magistrates Court, First Class
Judicial magistrate Court and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

Tribunal

In general a tribunal is a person or an institution with an authority to act judicially even if it is

not referred to as a tribunal in its title. For instance, a lawyer appearing before court even if
there is only one sitting judge, he could also call the judge as their 'tribunal'.
According to the notification dated 8 October 2012, uploaded on Supreme Court of India
website,

there

are

19

Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (ATE)

Armed Force Tribunal

Authority for Advance Rulings

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)

Central Administrative Tribunal

Company Law Board

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT)

Copyright Board

Customs Excise And Service Tax Appellate Tribunal

Cyber Appellate Tribunal

Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)

Tribunals:

Intellectual Property Appellate Board

National Green Tribunal

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

Appointments of Judges3

The Constitution of India lays down the rules for the appointment of the judges of the
Supreme Court, High Courts and District Courts. The judges of the Supreme Court are
appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice. Their appointment
is held under a collegium system which is a group of the Chief Justice and four senior judges
of the court. Similarly, for high courts, the President in consultation with the Chief Justice,
Governor of the State and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court appoints the judges.
The eligibility for the judge demands a person to be a citizen of India. He must have served
as an advocate for at least five years or as a judge of any high court for ten years to become a
Supreme Court Judge. For a high court judge it is necessary that a person must have been an
advocate

in

any

high

court

for

minimum

period

of

ten

years.

A judge can be removed from his position only on the grounds of misconduct or by the order
of the President. A Supreme Court Judge can only be removed after a notice is signed by at
least 50 members of the Rajya Sabha or 100 members of the Lok Sabha.

Fast Track Courts4

3 https://www.rechtspraak.nl/English/Judicial-systemLast accessed 10/08/2016, 9:33 pm

4 https://www.rechtspraak.nl/English/Judicial-systemLast accessed 10/08/2016, 10:00 pm

The fast track courts (FTC) in India were aimed at clearing the backlog of cases which were
pending in the district and the session courts. These courts function on the similar procedures
as session and trial courts. At the initial stage, the fast track courts were to look into the longpending cases but later they were directed to look after specific cases especially for crimes
against children and women. The scheme of fast track courts was recommended by the
Eleventh Finance Commission. Under this scheme, the government sanctioned a sum of Rs.
502.90 crores to set up 1734 FTCs in the country. As per the Ministry of Law and Justice, by
the end of March 2011, these courts had resolved 32.34 lakh cases*. However, since their
inception, the number of functioning courts has marginally reduced every year.

Lok Adalats

The concept of Lok Adalat is based on the system of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
They are based on the Gandhian principles of Gram Panchayats or Panch Parmeshwar. "Lok"
stands for "people" and the meaning of "Adalat" is court and therefore this institution in
general means "People's Court". The Lok Adalats are held by the several committees or
authorities such as District Authority, State Authority, High Court Legal Services Committee,
Supreme Court Legal Services and Taluk Legal Services Committee. These Lok Adalats are
efficient to handle different cases such as motor accident compensation cases, matrimonial
and

family

disputes,

land

acquisition

disputes

and

partition

claims,

etc.

The judiciary plays a pivotal role in the country by maintaining and administering the laws. It
not only administers justice but also protects the rights of the citizens of the country.
Judiciary interprets the laws and acts as a custodian of the Constitution. Courts, tribunals and
regulators together work and form this integrated system for the benefit of the nation

CONCLUSION

All political systems are embedded in their historical past, they work differently in different
political and social settings. Each system has its Constitution as the cornerstone of the nation
and its governance. It is central theme which determines and defines the functional
parameters of all three branches of Government legislature, executive and judiciary. The
framers of Indian Constitution adopted the British model of parliamentary government
because Independent India is a product of the most massive freedom movement. Hence it
could be a mass democracy, based on universal adult franchise. However they did not make it
a sovereign law making body like its English counterparts. They placed supremacy in the

hand of legislature, but it had to be restricted because unlike Great Britain, India has a
lengthy written Constitution, a federal distribution of powers and a list of fundamental rights.
Therefore parliamentary law to be valid must confirm in all respects with the constitution.

WEBLIOGRAPHY

1. www.mapsofindia.com Government of India Judiciary

2. https://www.rechtspraak.nl/English/Judicial-system
3. www.slovenia.si/slovenia/state/the-judicial-system/