Structure and jurisdiction of subordinate courts

Structure and jurisdiction of subordinate courts:

There are three tiers of civil and criminal courts below the High Court:-

*District Court (for civil cases) and Sessions Court (for criminal cases)

*Subordinate Judge Court (for civil cases) and Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court (for criminal cases)

*Munsiff's Court (for civil cases) and Judicial Magistrate's Court (for criminal cases)

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*District Court and Sessions Court:

The district court judge and session court judge is the highest judicial authority in the district.

District Court and Sessions Court also has supervisory powers over all the subordinate courts in the district.

The sessions judge has the power to impose any sentence including life imprisonment and capital punishment (death sentence). However,

A capital punishment passed by him is subject to confirmation by the High Court, whether there is an appeal or not.

*Subordinate Judge Court and Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court:

Below the District and Sessions Court stands the Court of Subordinate Judge on the civil side and the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate on the criminal side.

The subordinate judge exercises unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction over civil suits.

The chief judicial magistrate decides criminal cases which are punishable with imprisonment for a term up to seven years.

*Munsiff's Court and Judicial Magistrate's Court:

At the lowest level, on the civil side, is the Court of Munsiff and on the criminal side, is the Court of Judicial Magistrate.

The munsiff possesses limited jurisdiction and decides civil cases of small pecuniary stake.

The judicial magistrate tries criminal cases which are punishable with imprisonment for a term up to three years.

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In some metropolitan cities, there are city civil courts (chief judges) on the civil side and the courts of metropolitan magistrates on the criminal side.

Some of the States and Presidency towns have established small causes courts.

These courts decide the civil cases of small value in a summary manner. Their decisions are final, but the High Court possesses a power of revision.

In some states, Panchayat Courts try petty civil and criminal cases. They are known as Nyaya Panchayat, Gram Kutchery, Adalati Panchayat, Panchayat Adalat etc.