JUSTICE SYSTEM IN INDIA

This article will be discussing about the Justice delivery system in India i.e., Judicial System in India

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

Independence of Judiciary is the basic feature of the Constitution of India. An independent and impartial judiciary with the power of judicial review has been established under the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court of India is apex judicial institution in the country. There are High Courts for every States and other Courts subordinate to the High Courts.

 

The Indian Judiciary administers a common law system of legal jurisprudence, in which customs, precedents and legislation, all form part of the law of the land. The Constitution of India is the supreme legal documents.

 

There is a hierarchy of courts with the Supreme Court at top which is the final Court of adjudication for the entire country. Each State has its own High Court, but the High Court judges are appointed by the President of India. The State Judiciary is under the High Courts. The various types of Courts are as follows: -

 

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA:

 

The Supreme Court of India is the apex court of the country based at New Delhi which was established on 28 January 1950. It replaces the federal Court of India, which was the apex of the Indian Judicial System at that time.

 

The Supreme Court of India is established in accordance with the provisions contained in Article 124 of the Constitution of India. It is the final interpreter and guardian of the Constitution and also the guardian of the Fundamental Rights of the people.

 

The Supreme Court consists of Chief Justice and of other judges appointed by the President of India. The number of the judges of the Supreme Court may vary, in accordance with the law made by the Parliament in this regard. A judge of Supreme Court can hold office till he attains the age of 65 years.   

 

The Supreme Court of India has its original jurisdiction with respect to matters concerning enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under Part III of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court has the powers to issue directions, orders and writs for the proper enforcement of fundamental rights.

 

Mainly five kinds of writs are issued for enforcement of fundamental rights. The Supreme Court can issue various writs but usually the Supreme Court issues the following types of writs: -

 

·    Habeas Corpus – Habeas Corpus is a Latin term which literally means “You should have the body”. This writ is issued to produce a person who has been detained, whether in prison or in private custody, before a Court and such person may be released if his detention found to be illegal. A writ of Habeas Corpus may be filed by the person detained or by any other person on his behalf.

 

Mandamus – Mandamus is a Latin word which means “We command”. This is an order issued by the High Court to a Court or public authority to perform a public or statutory duty. A writ of mandamus is issued to compel a public official or a public body to perform a public statutory duty which it may have failed to perform.

 

Prohibition – A writ of prohibition means an order to stop from doing anything. A writ of prohibition is generally issued by the Supreme Court or by the High Court to any inferior Court or statutory authority prohibiting the authority to stop the proceedings. The give an example, if some statutory body is carrying out of some work, such as mining or blating without requisite permission, the High Court or the Supreme Court can issue a writ of Prohibition.

 

Certiorari – Literally Certiorari means to be certified. This writ is issued by a constitutional Court when the Court is of the opinion that any order passed or proceedings carried out by the public authority or the State are not in accordance with the law and it is, therefore, necessary to quash such order or proceedings which are against the law. A writ of Certiorari will lie only against the State or public authorities but not against a private person.

 

Quo Warranto – The word Qua Warranto means “What is your authority”. A Court is entitled to examine whether a person who is holding a public office is qualified to hold such office and has been validly appointed to hold such office. This kind of writ is issued with a view to restrain a person from holding a public office to which he is not entitled. If a person has usurped a public office, such writ can be issued directing him not to carry out any activities in the office.

 

HIGH COURT OF STATES:

 

Article 214 of the Indian Constitution provides that there shall be a High Court for each State. The High Court has very wide constitutional powers under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution. The High Court like the apex court is also empowered to issue writs, orders, or directions. The basic difference is that whereas under Article 32 of the Constitution the Supreme Court can issue a writ, order or direction only to prevent the violation of fundamental rights, under Article 226, the High Court has wider powers and can issue such writs not only for the enforcement of the fundamental rights but also for any other purpose. The power of the High Court is in that sense wider than the power of the Supreme Court. The High Court is the highest judicial court of the State and the subordinate judiciary is under the control of the High Court. The High Court also has the power of superintendence over all Courts and Tribunals falling within its jurisdiction.

 

THE DISTRICT JUDICIARY:

The District Judiciary does not deal with constitutional functions and issues like the Supreme Court or the High Courts. They deal with the disputes which are Civil and Criminal in nature. The District Judiciary can be categorized as follows: -

 

Civil Courts:

 

• Ø  District Judge
• Ø  Additional District Judge
• Ø  Civil Judge, Senior Division
• Ø  Civil Judge, Junior Division

 

Civil Courts are empowered to adjudicate in disputes of civil nature, like money disputes, boundary disputes, land disputes in respect of properties like ownership and title, partition, contractual disputes etc. Civil Courts have very wide jurisdiction and can entertain any civil dispute unless otherwise specially barred by law.

 

Criminal Courts:

 

• Ø  Sessions Judge
• Ø  Additional Sessions Judge
• Ø  Assistant Session Judge
• Ø  Chief Judicial Magistrate
• Ø  Judicial Magistrate 1^st Class
• Ø  Judicial Magistrate 2^nd Class

 

Criminal Courts are entrusted with adjudication of disputes of criminal nature, especially with respect to offences committed against human body, property, economic offences, statutory offences etc. Murder, causing hurt, cheating, theft, robbery, rape etc. are the various example of criminal offences. Some criminal offences have been created under special statutes. Therefore, ragging is also a criminal offence, employment of children below 14 years as laborer is a criminal offence, denying maintenance to children or parents, violation of traffic rules, smoking in public places, driving vehicle after consumption of alcohol, riding two wheelers without wearing helmets are examples of criminal offences.

 

Family Courts:

 

Family Courts under District Judiciary mainly deal with matrimonial disputes and disputes relating to custody of children etc. and these Family Courts have both civil and criminal powers. The Family Courts are presided over by officers of the rank of District Judge or Additional District Judge.

 

Revenue Courts:

 

It deals with revenue matters. The District Magistrate and Collector presides over the District Level Revenue Courts.

 

Tribunals:

 

Besides the same, there are also some Tribunals such as Commissioner, Employees Compensation, Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Land Acquisition Judge etc. and those are presided over either by District Judges or by Additional District Judges.

 

Lok Adalats:

 

For resolution of disputes through amicable settlement, there is a provision for constitution of Lok Adalats and Permanent Lok Adalats under the provision of the Legal Service Authorities Act, 1987. The Permanent Lok Adalat can take cognizance of disputes relating to Public Utility Service in respect of transport, postal, telegraph or telephone service, supply of water or light, system of public conservancy or sanitation, service in hospital or dispensary or insurance service at pre-litigation stage: provided that any matter relating to any offence not compoundable under any law can not be brought to the Lok Adalats or Permanent Lok Adalats. Disputes, the value of which exceeds Rs. One crore also cannot be decided by the Permanent Lok Adalats.

 

Every award of the Lok Adalats becomes binding on the parties and no appeal lies to any Court against such award.

 

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR):

 

Alternative Dispute Resolution is a mechanism, evolved in the recent past, for resolution of disputes outside the realm of Courts. It is a system of dispute resolution going beyond the long practiced adversarial system of adjudication. There are different kinds of methods of such dispute resolution. Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure was comprehensively amended and introduce four systems of ADR which are as follows –

 

Arbitration: - Arbitration is an adjudicatory dispute resolution processed by a Private Forum, governed by the provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Reference of any case to arbitration can only be made, if the parties agree to go for arbitration and hot otherwise. When a matter is referred to arbitration, it goes out of the stream of the Court process.

 

Conciliation: - Conciliation is a non-adjudicatory ADR process, which is also governed by the provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. There can be a valid reference to conciliation, only if both the parties to the dispute agree to have negotiations with the help of a third party either by an agreement or by the process of invitation and acceptance provided in Section 62 of the said Act followed by appointment of conciliators. If both parties do not agree for conciliation, there can be no conciliation. In contrast to arbitration, when a matter is referred to conciliation, the matter does not go out of the stream of court process permanently. If there is no settlement, the matter is returned to the court for proceeding with the trial.

 

Judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalats: - Judicial Settlement is a term by which settlement of a civil case is arrived at on negotiation with the help of a judge who is not assigned adjudicate upon the dispute. The Judge to whom the case is assigned, should not make any attempt for judicial settlement to avoid any apprehension of bias or prejudice. In Lok Adalats, cases are referred similarly for arriving at a settlement through negotiation by the conciliator and accordingly, order are passed by the Presiding Judges.

 

Mediation: - Settlement by ‘Mediation’ means the process by which a mediator appointed by the parties or by the court, as the case may be, mediates the dispute between parties directly or by communicating with each directly or through the mediator. The role of the mediator is to assist parties in identifying issues, reducing misunderstanding, clarifying priorities, exploring areas of compromise, generating options in an attempt to solve the dispute and emphasizing that it is the party’s own responsibility for making decisions which affect them.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

For the effective and smooth working of the democracy, an independent and impartial judiciary is the essential requirement. The system should be made more efficient and less time-consuming to enable it to administer justice rightly and quickly.