This article is written by Sparsh Mali, a fourth-year law student at the School of Law, UPES, Dehradun. The article talks about the Hierarchy & Jurisdiction of The Indian Court along with the functions of the judiciary.

Functions of Judiciary

• Interpretation of Law: The primary function of the judiciary is to interpret the law with the application of the principles of custom, statues and execute them to specific issues or cases as per the requirement. The function of the Judiciary is not settled to interpretation but it also applies principles of justice, equity and morality to solve the case in the absence of any law related to the dispute.
• Custodian of the Constitution: The judiciary acts as the guardian of the constitution in our country and especially where there is a federal government. The constitution is the supreme law of the land, thus, it is the duty of the judiciary to protect the Constitution. The judiciary also has the power to declare any law as unconstitutional passed by the legislature if it is inconsistent with the supreme law of the land. The Supreme Courts of the U.S and India are also empowered with the power of judicial review.
• Guardian of Civil Liberties: The judiciary is the guardian of civil liberties of the citizens and people of the country. It protects individual liberty by imposing sanctions on those who try to dilute them. It also protects the people in the country against arbitrary and unlawful action of the government. The Constitution of India under Article 32 & Article 226 has made the Supreme Court and High Courts respectively as the guardian of fundamental right against their violation by the State. If the state violates the rights of the people in the country then the courts may issue injunctions to prevent such violation by the means of issuing writs such as Habeas Corpus, mandamus, etc.
• Legislative Functions of the Judiciary: Laws are not so comprehensive and exhaustive which covers all the details of every case. Thus, the Courts find the exact meaning of the law and expand the details to apply general principles of justice and morality.
• Advisory Functions: The Courts also acts as an advisory body, which gives its opinions to executive and legislature bodies In our country the President may take any advice from the Supreme Court on any question of Constitutional law.
• Administrative Functions: The Supreme Court and High Courts also function as an administrative body as they are empowered to appoint their officials and supporting staff. In this way, the judiciary also performs an administrative function.
• Miscellaneous Functions: Judiciary performs miscellaneous functions like the granting of probate and appointment of receivers, guardians and trustees etc., they may also grant licenses, and can perform other functionaries etc.
• To Conduct Judicial Inquiries: Judges are very often called upon to lead the Enquiry Commission, constituted to enquire some serious incidents which are caused by errors or omissions of an error on the part of the government or some public servants.
• Power to get its Decisions and Judgements enforced: The power of the judiciary is not so limited to deliver judgments and decide the matter before it, but it also has the power to enforce their decision. It can direct the executive to enforce its decisions.

Types of Court under the Indian Judicial System

• Criminal Courts
• Civil Courts
• Tribunals

7 Types of Court in India

• Supreme Court- The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum or the highest appeal court in the Indian Judiciary System which is also known as Apex Court of the Country and it is established under Part V of the Constitution of India.
• High Court- The High Court is the highest judicial forum or the highest appealing court of any state or union territories assembled in the Indian Judiciary System and it is also known that High Court has the highest jurisdiction above all the court in India.
• District Court and Additional District Court- The District Courts of India are established by the State Governments for every district or for a group of the district on the basis of a number of cases, the population of the defined area. These courts are subordinate of the High Court of the State and are in full control of respective High Court of the State to which the district concerned belongs. The district court is presided over by one District Judge and he can be assisted by a number of other Additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges depending on the workload. The Additional District Judge and the court presided have equivalent jurisdiction as the District Judge and his district court.
• Courts of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class– These are on one of the lowest hierarchies of the Criminal Court structure in India. Section 11 of CrPC, talks about the establishment of JM- 2, that a Court of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class may be established by the State Government in consultation with the respective High Court of the state at any place in the district. Generally, the post for Judicial Magistrate 2nd Class is dissolved within 6 months by the newly appointed officers unless the concerned High Court of a State reduces or increase the time period of 6 months.
• Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class- These are also among the lowest level of the Criminal Court in India. According to the Section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class may be established by the respective State Government in consultation with the High Court of the respective state at any place in the district where the State Government thinks that there is a need of the concerned court. According to Section 15 of the CrPC, a judicial magistrate of all class is under the general control of the Sessions Judge and is subordinate to the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
• Court of small causes for metropolitan cities- In Indian Judicial System the Small Causes Court is responsible for deciding the matters related to civil cases and these courts are responsible for cases relating to tax, property disputes (which relate to rent and leave and licence) and other such small cause cases. In India, such Courts are established under the Presidency Small Cause Courts Act-1882. As per the provisions of this Act, the State Government may establish a Court of Small Causes at any place within its territory.
• Munsif’s court or court of sub-judge III class- District Munsiff Court is considered as the lowest court of Indian Judicial System which only decides the cases related to civil matters. They are generally under the control of the District Courts of the respective district. The appeal against these courts is entertained by any courts which are at least one rank superior to them but are inferior to the District. 

Indian judiciary flow chart [1]

Civil Court Meaning

A Court is said to be Civil Court when the Court only handles legal disputes or matter that are not associated with any crimes. Civil courts handle disputes between individuals and not between the State, thus, matters related to businesses, including family law cases like divorces or adoptions, business and contract disputes, personal injury cases, and property disputes etc., all such disputes are adjudicated by the Civil Court. In civil cases, there is no involvement by the government which means the plaintiff has to bring the suite itself before the court against the defendant.

Criminal Court Meaning

A Court is said to be Criminal Court when the Court only handle the legal disputes or matter that are associated with criminal matters or charges. In criminal court, the government files a case against the person who committed the crime. In criminal trials, the accused is called the defendant and the government has to prove that the defendant is guilty of his act beyond a reasonable doubt.

Jurisdiction of Courts in India

Both Civil Courts and Criminal Courts have been categorised on the basis of jurisdiction related to-

• Subject Matter Jurisdiction: The general meaning of ‘Subject Matter’ is the type of matter the specific Court deals like if it is a Civil or Criminal, if the disputed matter is related to marriage, tax, fraud, criminal acts etc., It can be defined as the authority of the court to hear cases of the particular type of specific subject matter.
• Territorial Jurisdiction: Every court has its geographical limits to what they can exercise their jurisdiction, which means that the court can only hear matters related to their area and not of other areas which are beyond their jurisdiction limit.
• Pecuniary Jurisdiction: Pecuniary Jurisdiction is related to money or the valuation of dispute in terms of money, and the court can try only those cases which they are authorised to sentence the damages to the victim like different courts of the Consumer forum.
• Appellate Jurisdiction: It refers to the authority of a court to review a case that has already been settled by a court inferior to them. Such type of jurisdiction is generally vested in High Courts and Supreme Courts.

Jurisdiction of Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has different jurisdiction to administer justice such as:

• Original Jurisdiction: The original jurisdiction is also known as the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India. Article 32 of the Indian Constitution grants every citizen the right to seek constitutional remedy directly in the Supreme Court of India. Any person can approach the Supreme Court of India for seeking remedy against the violation of his fundamental rights. Any matters related to fundamental rights or matters related to enforcement of fundamental rights come under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India as it is well said that the Supreme Court is the highest interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is not only subjected to the original jurisdiction only matters related to the fundamental rights as Supreme Court also has the original jurisdiction in matters or disputes related to-

• Government of Indian and one or more states.

• Government of Indian and State on one side and State on another side.

• State and State.

The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court only comes with the law of fact on which the question depends if there is any legal rights which are court have to determine.

• Appellate Jurisdiction of Supreme Court: It is the Highest Court of appeal, decrees or orders passed by the Supreme Court has effects throughout the country. The cases which the Supreme Court entertains which comes in the form of appeal against the judgment of the lower courts, then, such jurisdiction exercised by the Supreme Court is known appellate jurisdiction. The fundamental rule of approaching the Supreme Court is to get a Certificate form, from the High Court where the Court will state that the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution and such interpretation can only be done by the learned Supreme Court to administer the Justice. And if the High Court refuses to give such certificate to the person who is affected by the decision of the High Court or who is not satisfied with the decision of the Supreme Court; then the Supreme Court can grant special leave to appeal and such cases are only admitted if the court is satisfied with substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution.

Every matter that involves the interpretation of the constitution not matter if it is a civil, criminal or any other proceeding, the Supreme Court is the final authority to elaborate the meaning and interpret the Constitution of India.

• Advisory Jurisdiction: By virtue of Article 143 Supreme Court also enjoys advisory jurisdiction as the Article 143 empowers the President to consult Supreme Court and along with such power the President is not bound, to listen, to the opinion made by the Supreme Court. Usually the president consult with the Supreme Court only when he feels that a question of law or fact has arisen or is likely to arise and the question is of such a nature and of such public importance that he cannot take the decision alone, hence, the advice of Supreme Court is important in such cases.
• Review and Revision Jurisdiction of Supreme Court: Article 137 empowers the Supreme Court to review and revise its own decisions.
• Special Leave Petition: Special leave petition is the constitutional power vested in the Supreme Court by Article 136, where, the Supreme Court in its discretion, can grant special leave to the appellant against any judgment, decree, sentence or order passed by any court in the country.
• Court of Records: Court of the record is a principle which explains that all the cases decided by the Supreme Court are to be recognised as precedents and all the subordinate courts to make reference to the judgments passed by the Supreme Court. The judgments and inferences of the Supreme Court are to be recorded for perpetual memory and testimony and these records have evidentiary value and cannot be questioned when produced before any court. In India, both Supreme Court and High Courts act as Courts of Record.

Jurisdiction of High Court

• Original Jurisdiction: The High Court also enjoys the power to entertain the dispute in the first instance as by the means of original jurisdiction. Like the Supreme Court, the High Court also has the same original jurisdiction in matters of enforcement of fundamental rights under Article 226. Apart from such matters the High Court also has the original jurisdiction in the matters related to maritime law or admiralty jurisdiction, will, marriage, divorce, company laws and contempt of court. It also has similar jurisdiction in matters related to the election of MPs and MLAs.
• Writ Jurisdiction: Article 226 of the Indian Constitution empower the High Court to enforce writ and listen to all the matters related to the violation of fundamental rights in the way of issuing the writ. The only difference between the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and the High Court is that the Supreme Court can only issue the writs for the enforcement of fundamental rights but the High Court has the more jurisdiction over the writ as it can issue the writs for the other matters also.
• Appellate Jurisdiction: Like the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction, the High Court also enjoys the appellate jurisdiction above all the courts subordinate to it within the respective state in both civil and criminal matters.
• Supervisory Jurisdiction: Under Article 227 of the Indian Constitution the High Court has to power above all the courts and tribunals within the state where the court is situated. Along with it also has the power to transfer the cases from one court to another for administering best and proper justice.

Jurisdiction of District and Additional District Court

• The District Court and Additional District Court exercise the same jurisdiction either being original or appellate jurisdiction in both the matter of civil and criminal. The territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction in civil matters is usually determined by the respective state where the court is situated. The jurisdiction of the criminal matter is determined on the applicability of the uniform statue i.e., the criminal procedure code. The district court or the additional district can pass any punishments authorised by law but in the case of sentencing the death, the punishment has to be confirmed by the respective High Court.

• Jurisdiction of Subordinate Court

1. The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate may pass any sentence authorised by law except imprisonment for more than 7 years or life imprisonment or the death penalty to the offender of the law.
2. The Court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class may pass any order or punishment authorised by the law except imprisonment exceeding 3 years or fine up to Rs. 10,000 or both.
3. The Court of Judicial Magistrate of 2nd class may pass any order or punishment authorised by the law except imprisonment exceeding one year or fine up to Rs. 5,000 or both.
4. The Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has the same powers as of the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate has. 

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