Judicial Branch of India Government

India has a unitary judicial system. The judicial system in India has a pyramidal structure with the Supreme Court (SC) at the top. Below the Supreme Court are the High Courts, which are followed by the District Courts and Subordinate Courts. The lower courts operate under the direct supervision of the higher courts.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the apex court of the Indian judicial system. The Supreme Court is an essential element of the federal system followed by India. It is the highest court with criminal and civil powers. The main powers of the Supreme Court are classified into four: original, appellate, advisory and review. Supreme court is Court of record, Federal Court, Court of appeal and Guardian of the constitution. Supreme Court is located in Delhi without any benches in any part of the nation and is presided by the Chief Justice of India. The supreme court has the power to transfer the cases from one High Court to another and even from one District Court of a particular state to another District Court of the other state. The Supreme court of India possesses the power of constitutional review.

High Court

The High Courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in the state along with District courts which are subordinate to the High Courts. Article 214 provides that there shall be a High Court for every State. However, Parliament has the power to establish a common High Court for two or more States and a Union Territory by law. At present there are 25 High Courts. Articles 214 to 231 of the Constitution deal with the establishment, organisation etc. of the High Court. A High Court consists of a Chief Justice and judges. Judges in a High Court are appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice and the Governor of the State. The High court of india act as the court of original jurisdiction and the court of Appellate jurisdiction at the same time. The High Court of India have the power of superintendence over all the lower courts of a state except the Military Tribunals. As the head of the judiciary in the state, the High Court has got administrative control over the subordinate in the state.

Subordinate Courts

In every state besides the High Court there are number of judicial courts to administer justice. These courts function under the complete control and supervision of the High Court. There are two types of subordinate courts in every district - civil and criminal courts.

Civil Courts

The court of the district judges is the highest civil court in a district. It exercises both judicial and administrative powers. The court of the district judge is located at the district headquarters. Below the court of the District Judge are the courts of sub judge, Additional sub judge and Munsif Courts. Most of the civil cases are filed in the court of the Munsif. The court of the District Judge has both original and appellate jurisdiction.

Criminal Courts

Under criminal courts, there are courts of the District and Sessions Judge, Additional Sessions Judges, Assistant Session Judge and the courts of the first class magistrates. The district and session judge may pass any legal sentence but a death sentence is subject to confirmation by the High Court. An Assistant - Session Judge has the power to sentence a person to ten years imprisonment. A first class Magistrate may pass a sentence of imprisonment not exceeding two years or a fine not exceeding one thousand ruppees. Besides this there are courts of second class and third class Magistrates also.

Revenue Courts

The Board of Revenue is at the apex of all the revenue courts. Under the Board of Revenue are the Commissioner's Court, Court of Tahsildar and Nayab Tahsildar. Each district has separate courts for its land revenue system. Every dispute related with land revenue first comes before the Court of Tahsildar. The Board of revenue hears the final appeals against all the lower revenue courts under it. For providing speedy and economical justice of the poor and the downtrodden, Legal Aid, Lok Adalat and Public Interest Litigation have been introduced in the country.

Administrative Tribunals

According to the provision of Article 323 (A), the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 was enacted by the Parliament. The tribunals adjudicate disputes and complaints relating to recruitment and condition of service of persons appointed to public services and posts in connection with affairs of the Union and the State. A tribunal can be checked by a High Court for exceeding its jurisdiction or if its order is contrary to natural justice.

Family Courts

The family courts have been established under the Family Courts Act 1984. Family Courts aim at promoting conciliation in and securing speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriage and family affairs. Appeals against the orders of the family courts can be made to the High Court. Under Article 136 of the constitution appeals can be presented in the Supreme Court also.