Subordinate Courts In India

In civil and criminal issues originating in the District, the District Court or Additional District Court has original and appellate jurisdiction. The territorial and monetary jurisdiction of civil courts is typically established by related state enactments on the issue. On the criminal side, the criminal process code is the exclusive source of jurisdiction. The utmost sentence a Sessions Judge of the district court may impose on a criminal is death punishment, according to this law. In both civil and criminal issues, the district court has appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts in the district. Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, and Senior Civil Judge Court are the civil subordinate courts (in ascending order) (also called sub-court). 

On the criminal side, the subordinate courts are the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court and the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court (in ascending order of hierarchy). Certain criminal and civil matters cannot be tried in a lower court than a district court. In such cases, the District Court has original jurisdiction. This article’s main aim is to give you a brief knowledge about the subordinate courts in India, such as what is a subordinate court, what are rules and control over subordinate courts.

What is a Subordinate Court?

Subordinate Courts are under the authority or control of another Court or are positioned lower in the legal hierarchy. Every Small Causes Court in civil jurisdiction is subordinate to the High Court and District Court. The District Court is a subordinate court which reports to the High Court. The District Courts of India are the district courts of the Indian state governments for each district, or one or more districts combined, based on the number of cases and population distribution in the district. The district judge is under the control of the high court. In India, they are in charge of district justice. Every Judicial Magistrate with criminal jurisdiction reports to the Chief Judicial Magistrate and Sessions Judge. A Sessions Judge is in charge of all Chief Judicial Magistrate and Assistant Sessions Judges. 

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The High Court has authority over all Sessions Judges. When sitting over a district court in a city designated by the state as a "metropolitan area," the district judge is also referred to as a "metropolitan session judge." Other courts in the metropolitan region that are subordinate to district court are also referred to with "metropolitan" appended to the customary nomenclature. If the population of a region surpasses one million people, the state government designates it as a metropolitan area. 

Types of Subordinate Courts

There are several sorts of subordinate or lower courts in each district of India. Civil courts, criminal courts, and revenue courts are the three types of courts. These courts consider civil, criminal, and revenue matters in that order.

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Civil Court

The Court of the District Judge is the district's highest civil court for civil cases. When a court deals with both civil and criminal matters at the district level, it is sometimes referred to as the Court of District and Sessions Judge. The Governor of the State appoints the judge of this court. There may be one or more courts of sub judges in the district below the Court of District Judge. Separate family courts, which are equivalent to sub judge courts, have been formed in districts to handle only matters involving family problems, such as divorce, child custody, etc. Courts of munsifs and small causes courts sit under them, deciding issues involving little amounts of money. The decisions of the small claims courts are not subject to appeal. All of these courts are responsible for hearing and resolving civil disputes. The Court of the District Judge (also known as the District Courts) considers not only appeals from judgments of the courts of sub judges but also cases that originate in the Court of District Judge. Appeals against this court's rulings may be considered by the State's High Court. Civil Courts hear issues involving property, divorce, contracts, and violation of the agreement, as well as landlord-tenant conflicts between two or more individuals.

Criminal Courts

The Sessions Judge's Court (also known as Sessions Courts) is the highest court in a district for criminal matters. There are courts of magistrates of the First, Second, and Third classes below this court. First Class Magistrates are known as Metropolitan Magistrates in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, and Chennai. All of these criminal courts have the authority to try the accused and to punish those who are found guilty of breaking the law. Criminal Courts adjudicate matters involving violations of the law. Theft, dacoity, rape, arson, pickpocketing, physical assault, and murder are among the crimes committed in these cases. Normally, the police submit each accused before a magistrate. The magistrate has the ultimate say in minor criminal proceedings. However, if a magistrate establishes a prima facie case of a major crime, the offender may be sent to the sessions court. As a result, the accused who are handed up to them by the magistrate are tried in sessions courts.

Revenue Courts

Land revenue cases are heard in the state's revenue courts. The Board of Revenue is the district's highest revenue court. Commissioners', Collectors', Tehsildars', and Assistant Tehsildars' Courts are all part of it. The Board of Revenue is in charge of hearing final appeals from the subordinate revenue courts.

Subordinate Court Appointment and Removal

The governor, in consultation with the chief justice of the state's high court, appoints the judges of subordinate courts. A minimum of 7 years of experience as a lawyer at a bar is required for direct entry level to become a district judge. District judges are appointed by the state government after a written test and oral interview by a committee of high court judges. Direct recruiting is the term for this method. District judges can also be appointed by elevating judges from lower courts to district courts if they have served for the required number of years. However, the entry-level district judge exams have caused judges on the lower rungs of the judiciary to become complacent, as their chances of filling posts for the work they have done may never lead to promotions due to the lack of posts. A district judge who has served for a sufficient number of years can advance to the position of a high court judge. High court judges are generally chosen from a pool of high court advocates and district judges who have served for a sufficient number of years. District judges' efficiency has waned as a result of this, as they've realised that elevating lawyers straight to high court judges stifles their ability to be promoted for the job they've done over many years of service. On confirmation by the high court collegium, a district judge or additional judge may be removed from office by the governor.

Superintendence of Subordinate Courts

In all matters of a judicial and administrative character, a High Court has the authority of superintendence and control over subordinate courts. The High Court may, in the exercise of its superintendence authority, request any information from the lower courts, formulate and issue general rules and prescribe norms for controlling the practice and proceedings of these courts, and give such directives as it deems necessary. It can also set rules and regulations for officials of the subordinate courts' appointment, demotion, promotion, and leave of absence. 

Control over Subordinate Courts

This is an extension of the supervisory and appellate jurisdictions mentioned above. It provides that if a matter is ongoing before a lower court and contains a serious point of law, the High Court has the authority to dismiss it. The matter can be solved on its own, or the question of law can be resolved, and the case returned to the same court. In the second instance, the High Court's decision would be binding on the lower court. It also deals with matters such as promotion, leave, transfer, and discipline of the members who work there. The officers and staff of the Supreme Court are completely under the supervision of the court. It appoints officials and servants, who are appointed by the Chief Justice or any other High Court judge as the Chief Justice may order. However, the Governor of the state may require, by rule, that in the situations mentioned in the rule, no individual not already attached to the court be appointed to any post associated with the court unless the state public service commission has been consulted. District judges, city civil court judges, Metropolitan magistrates, and members of the state judicial service compensate the subordinate courts.