The document discusses key aspects of the Indian judiciary system. It describes that India has a single integrated judicial system with the Supreme Court at the top, followed by high courts at the state level and subordinate courts below the high courts. It notes some of the key features of the Indian judiciary like its separation from the executive branch and introduction of public interest litigation. The summary briefly outlines the jurisdiction and roles of the Supreme Court, high courts, and subordinate courts in the Indian judicial system.

1. The Indian judiciary
SOCIAL SCIENCE PROJECT
SARTHAK SHIVAM
CLASS-VIII

2. The Indian Judiciary
The judiciary is a system
of courts which interpret and
apply the law. The role of the
courts is to decide cases by
determining the
relevant facts and the
relevant law, and applying the
relevant facts to the relevant law.
The Indian Judiciary administers
a common law system in
which customs, securities and
legislation, all codify the law of
the land. It has, in fact, inherited
the legacy of the legal system
established by the then colonial
powers and the princely
states since the mid-19th
century, and has partly retained
the characteristics of practices
from the ancient and medieval
times.

3. Features of our
Judiciary
Salient Features of Indian Judiciary:
1. Single and Integrated Judicial System:
The Constitution establishes a single integrated judicial system for the whole of India. The
Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the country and below it are the High Courts
at the state level. Other courts (Subordinate Courts) work under the High Courts. The
Supreme Court controls and runs the judicial administration of India. All courts in India
form links of a single judicial system.
2. Separation of Judiciary from the Executive:
The Constitution of India provides for a separation between the judiciary and the other two
organs of the government. The judiciary is neither a branch of the executive nor in any way
subordinate to it. The judicial administration in India is organized and run in accordance
with the rules and orders of the Supreme Court.

4. Composition of the Supreme Court
Initially, the Constitution of India provided for a supreme court with a chief justice
and 7 judges. In the early years, a full bench of the Supreme Court sat together to
hear the cases presented before them. As the work of the Court increased and cases
began to accumulate, Parliament increased the number of judges (including the
Chief Justice) from the original 8 in 1950 to 11 in 1956, 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26
in 1986, 31 in 2009, to 34 in 2019. As the number of the judges has increased, they
sit in smaller benches of two or three (referred to as a division bench)—coming
together in larger benches of five or more (referred to as a constitution bench) when
required to settle fundamental questions of law. A bench may refer a case before it
to a larger bench, should the need arise.

5. Composition of the High
Court
High court consists of
Chief Justice and
number of other
judges. This number
varies from state to
state. Chief Justice of
every High Court is
appointed by the
President of India with
the aid of Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court
and Governor of the
State.

6. Current Chief Justice of India
The Current Chief
Justice of India is Sharad
Arvind Bobde, Who is
appointed by Ram Nath
Kovind (current president
of India. He was
appointed on 18
November 2019
(273 days), and the date
of retirement is 23 April
2021(363 days).

7. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
Jurisdiction is the authority given to a legal body like a court to administer justice within a defined field of
responsibility.. The Supreme Court in India has three types of jurisdictions – original, appellate and
advisory as provided in Articles 131, 133 – 136 and 143 respectively of the Indian Constitution.
Jurisdiction of a court refers to a matter for which the particular court is approached first. In the case of the
Supreme Court in India, its original jurisdiction is covered under Article 131. It involves the following cases:
1. Any dispute between the Indian Government and one or more States.
2. Any dispute between the Indian Government and one or more States on one side and one or more States on
the other side.
3. Any dispute between two or more States.
4. Article 32 of the Constitution provides original jurisdiction to the SC for matters regarding the enforcement of
Fundamental Rights.
5. The SC can issue writs, directions, or orders including writs in the nature of mandamus, habeas corpus, quo
warranto, prohibition and certiorari.
6. The SC also has the power to direct the transfer of a criminal or civil case from the High Court in one State to
the High Court in another State.
7. It can also transfer cases from one subordinate court to another State High Court
8. If the SC deems that cases involving the same questions of law are pending before it and one or more High
Courts, and that these are significant questions of law, it can withdraw the cases before the High Court or
Courts and dispose off all these cases itself.
9. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 gives the SC the authority to initiate international commercial
arbitration.

8. Jurisdiction of the High Court
The various kinds of the jurisdiction of the High Court are briefly given below:
Original Jurisdiction
•The High Courts of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras have original jurisdiction in criminal and civil
cases arising within these cities.
•An exclusive right enjoyed by these High Courts is that they are entitled to hear civil cases which
involve property worth over Rs.20000.
•Regarding Fundamental Rights: They are empowered to issue writs in order to enforce fundamental
rights.
•With respect to other cases: All High Courts have original jurisdiction in cases that are related to will,
divorce, contempt of court and admiralty.
•Election petitions can be heard by the High Courts.
Appellate Jurisdiction
•In civil cases: an appeal can be made to the High Court against a district court’s decision.
•An appeal can also be made from the subordinate court directly, if the dispute involves a value higher
than Rs. 5000/- or on a question of fact or law.
•In criminal cases: it extends to cases decided by Sessions and Additional Sessions Judges.
• If the sessions judge has awarded an imprisonment for 7 year or more.
• If the sessions judge has awarded capital punishment.
•The jurisdiction of the High Court extends to all cases under the State or federal laws.
•In constitutional cases: if the High Court certifies that a case involves a substantial question of law.

9. Subordinate Court
▪ The District Courts of India are the district courts of the State governments in
India for every district or for one or more districts together taking into
account the number of cases, population distribution in the district.
▪ They administer justice in India at a district level. These courts are under
administrative control of the High Court of the State to which the district
concerned belongs. The decisions of District court are subject to the appellate
jurisdiction of the High court.
▪ This is an extension of the above supervisory and appellate jurisdiction. It
states that the High Court can with draw a case pending before any
subordinate court, if it involves the substantial question of law. The case
can be disposed of itself or solve the question of law and return back to the
same court.
▪ In the second case the opinion tendered by High court would be binding on
the subordinate court. It also deals with matters pertaining to posting
promotion, grant of leave, transfer and discipline of the members there in.

10. Access to courts

11. Public interest litigation (PIL)
Public interest litigation (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest
and demonstrates the availability of justice to socially-disadvantaged parties and was
introduced by Justice P. N. Bhagwati. It is a relaxation on the traditional rule of locus
standi. Earlier, the judiciary and the Supreme Court of India entertained litigation
only from parties affected directly or indirectly by the defendant. It heard and
decided cases only under its original and appellate jurisdictions. However, the
Supreme Court began permitting cases on the grounds of public interest litigation,
which means that even people who are not directly involved in the case may bring
matters of public interest to the court. It is the court's privilege to entertain the
application for the PIL.

12. Impact Of PIL
▪ A controversial study by social scientist Hans Dembowski
concluded that PILs had been successful in making official
authorities accountable to NGOs. While Dembowski also found
some effect at the grassroots level, PIL cases dealing with major
environmental grievances in the Kolkata urban
agglomeration did not tackle underlying problems (such as
inadequate town planning). Dembowsk wrote about it in his
book, Taking the State to Supreme Court - Public Interest
Litigation and the Public Sphere in Metropolitan India which was
originally published by Oxford University Press in 2001. The
publisher, however, discontinued distribution because
of contempt of court proceedings initiated by the Calcutta High
Court. The author, who claimed he was never officially notified
by the court, republished the book online with German
NGO Asia House.