Functions of Judiciary of India – Supreme Court, High Court and District Court

Judiciary plays an imminent role in the working of countries across the globe. The constitution of India came into existence on 26 January 1950.

However, the Indian constitution is referred to as a “Bag of Borrowings’ but this does not mean it is in any way less than the other constitutions of the countries around the world. Indian Constitution is unique in its way. In this article, we will learn more about Judiciary of India and its functions.

Judiciary of India

India has an Independent Judiciary, which means that other organs of the government do not hold the authority to intervene in its working.

The judiciary is one of the branches of the government that interprets the law, settles disputes, and administers justice to all citizens of the country. It is also considered to be the watchdog of Democracy.

Structure of Indian Judiciary

The judiciary in India has a hierarchical structure, wherein, the Supreme Court stands at the top and below it are the high courts and district courts, respectively.

As per the size of the country, the Indian judiciary system is planned to cater to the requirements of the citizens of India and to serve the India Community with efficiency.

Supreme Court of India

It is placed at the highest position in the Hierarchy of Indian Courts. The Supreme Court of India is led by the Chief Justice of India and with him, are appointed 30 judges to advise the CJI. The Supreme Court of India started its operations on 28th January 1950.

As per a report of the Supreme Court, the court has taken more than 24,000 judgments. The decision of the Supreme Court is binding on all the other courts.

It also holds the authority to transfer the judges of the High Courts. Not only the judges but the Supreme Court of India can transfer cases from one high court to another and if needed, it can also move the cases to itself.

High Courts of India

The High Courts in India are considered to be the Second important courts. The high courts are run per Article 141 of the Indian Constitution. There are a total of 25 high courts in India that take care of the regional juridical system of the country out of which Kolkata High Court is the oldest.

High courts are confined to the jurisdiction of a state, group of states, or Union Territory. There are some specific areas in which only High Courts have the authority to exercise the right for hearing like cases related to Company Law as it is designated especially in a state or federal law.

However, normally the high courts are involved in the appeals that are raised in the cases of lower courts with the writ petitions as conferred in Article 226 of the Indian Constitution. They also have the right to publish writs as and when needed.

District Courts of India

A district court in India is one of the lower courts that are meant to deal with the issues of a district. They are mainly run by the state government appointed district judges. There are a total of 672 district courts in operation.

Depending upon the factors like the number of cases, distribution of population, and more, the state government decides the numbers of District Courts that are needed to be in operation for a single district or clubbing together different adjacent districts.

Functions of Judiciary of India

Some of the many functions of the Indian Judiciary are –

1. Guardian of the Constitution

The supreme court of India acts as a guardian of the constitution. It takes care of the conflicts between the center and the state, or the state and the legislature. Under the judicial review, it can state any law or act as unconstitutional if it is found to be violating any of the provisions of the constitution.

2. Protector of the Fundamental Rights

The judiciary is supposed to act as a protector of the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country. It also holds the right to enforce fundamental rights by issuing writs.

3. Administrative Functions

The court has also been granted some of the administrative functions that include, assigning the guardian of the minors, registering marriages, and more.

4. Supervisory Functions

The higher courts in the country also hold the responsibility to supervise the lower courts and look into their cases, to ensure justice is delivered.

5. Advisory Functions

By Advisory functions, we mean that the judiciary of India holds the right to give its opinions on the questions of the constitution.

Evolution of Indian Judiciary

The evolution of the Indian Judiciary can be broadly classified into 4 phases. The four phases of the evolution of the Indian Judiciary are as follows.

Phase 1: Textual Approach

In Phase 1, the supreme court of India adopted a textual approach, which means that it looked out for the literal meaning of the words that are mentioned in the Constitution of India.

Phase 2: Structuralist Approach

In phase 2, the supreme court looked at the constitution with a more structuralist approach. It explored various methods and techniques of interpretation of the words mentioned in the Indian Constitution, to dig deeper.

Phase 3: The Challenge of heterogeneity

This was the stage in which the supreme court’s interpretation was more focussed on the end result and not much effort was granted to the reasoning of the respective issues.

Due to the rise in the cases, the panels of the judges started to increase, and during the same time, though the Indian judiciary was powerful but was accused of its judicial overreach.

Phase 4: Transformation and Social Revolution

The recent phase of the Indian judiciary can be termed as the fourth stage, wherein it has taken a lot of decisions for the social revolution and the transformation. Some of them include lifting the ban of women from entering the Sabarimala Temple, decriminalizing homosexuality, and more.

Powers of High Court and Supreme Court

There are different types of jurisdictions and powers of the Supreme Court. Some of them are listed below :

1. Original Jurisdiction

Being a Federal court, the Supreme Court decides disputes between –

• Two or more states
• Centre and the state/states
• Centre and states on one side and the other states on the other side

In any of the above-mentioned disputes, the supreme court has the exclusive original jurisdiction.

However, this jurisdiction does not apply to the following cases-

• A dispute that arose out of any pre-Constitution treaty, agreement, covenant, engagement, and or any other similar instruments.
• Any Inter-state water disputes.
• Matters that are referred to the Finance Commission.
• Recovery of the damages by a state against the Centre.
• An ordinary dispute that is commercial between the Centre and the states.
• A dispute that arose out of any treaty, agreement, etc., which specifically provides that the said jurisdiction does not extend to such a dispute.
• An adjustment of certain expenses and pensions between the Centre and the states.

2. Writ Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court is granted the power to issue writs, like habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo-warranto, and certiorari for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of an aggrieved citizen.

However, this jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is not exclusive as the High Courts are also granted the power to issue writs for the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights.

3. Appellate Jurisdiction

Several appeals can be made in the Supreme Court of India. These appeals can be broadly classified into four categories, that are, Constitutional Matters, Civil Matters, Criminal Matters, and Special Leaves.

4. Advisory Jurisdiction

Under Article 143, the President of India has the right to seek the advice of the Supreme court when any question of law or fact of public importance which has arisen or is likely to arise or if any dispute is arising out of any pre-constitution treaty, agreement, covenant, engagement, or other similar instruments.

5. Court of record

Herein, the Supreme Court of India has two powers, that are –

• It is given the authority to punish for the contempt of court, either with simple imprisonment for a term up to six months or with fine up to 2,000 or both.
• The judgments, proceedings, and acts of the Supreme Court are recorded for perpetual memory and testimony and they are recognized as legal precedents and legal references.

Some of the Powers that are granted to the High Court are the following –

1. Original Jurisdiction

The high courts are empowered to issue writs to enforce fundamental rights, as and when needed. Adding to this, they have original jurisdiction in cases that are related to will, divorce, contempt of court, and admiralty. Furthermore, election petitions can also be heard in the High Court.

2. Appellate Jurisdiction

An appeal can be made to the High Court against a district court’s decision, in the civil cases. If the dispute involves a value that is higher than Rs. 5000/- or on a question of fact or law, then an appeal can be made from the subordinate court, directly.

A person can move to the High Court if he has been awarded imprisonment of seven years and above under a criminal case. Appeals on constitutional matters can also be taken up in the High Court.

3. Administrative Powers

The high court is the controller of all the subordinate courts. It also has the right to ask for the details of the proceedings from the subordinate courts. The rules regarding the working of the subordinate courts are also issued by the High court.

The High Court can also appoint its administration staff and determine their salaries and allowances, and conditions of service.

4. Power of Judicial Review

High Courts hold the power of judicial review. They have the right to declare any law or ordinance as unconstitutional if it is found to be against the Constitution of India.

5. Power of Cancellation

A High Court alone can choose to certify the cases that it feels are fit for an appeal before the Supreme Court of India.

Qualification and Appointment

The Qualification that is needed to be a Judge in the Supreme Court of India are that he/she –

1. Should be a citizen of the country.
2. Should have been the judge of one of the high courts of the country for at least 5 years.
3. The president of the country shall consider him to be a distinguished jurist.
4. Should have been an advocate in any one of the high courts of the country for a period of 10 years.

It shall be noted that no minimum age of a Judge of the Supreme Court has been mentioned in the Indian Constitution.

The Qualification that is needed to be a judge in the Judge in the high court of the country is that he/she should –

1. Have held a judicial office in the Indian territory for 10 years, OR
2. Have been an advocate of the high court(s) for a minimum period of ten years.

Removal procedure

1. A Supreme Court or a High Court Judge shall be removed from his post concerning an order passed by the President of the Country. However, this order of removal can only be issued after the Parliament presented and addressed him on the same matter.
2. The address in the parliament shall need a majority of two-thirds of the members that are present and voting in the house.
3. The two grounds on which a Supreme Court or a High Court judge shall be removed are proved misbehavior or incapacity.
4. The procedure relating to the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court is regulated by The Judges Enquiry Act (1968).
5. It must also be noted that to date, no judge of the Supreme Court of India has been impeached by the Parliament and the President.

Constitutional Provisions

Articles 13, 32, 131-136, 143, 145, 226, 246, 251, 254, and 372 are the constitutional provisions that guarantee judicial review of legislation.

1. Article 13 considers any law void which contravenes any of the provisions of the part of Fundamental Rights.
2. Article 372 talks about the judicial review of the pre-constitution legislation.
3. Both Articles 32 and 226 entrusts the roles of the protector of the constitution and guarantor of fundamental rights to the Supreme and the High Courts.
4. Article 246 (3) makes sure that of the state legislature’s exclusive powers on matters that are about the State list.
5. Article 245 of the Indian Constitution says that the powers of both Parliament and State legislatures are subject to the provisions of the constitution.
6. All Articles from 131 to 136 entrusts the Indian court with the power to adjudicate the disputes between the individuals, between the individuals and the state, between the states and the union. However, the court may be required to interpret the provisions of the constitution and the interpretation that is given by the Supreme Court becomes the law that shall be honored by all courts of the land.

Recent Controversies

1. Back in the year 2016, Justice Nagarjuna Reddy of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana got all lights on him when 61 Rajya Sabha members moved a petition for his impeachment on charges of him misusing his position to “victimize” a “Dalit” judge. However, later, nine of the 54 members of the Rajya Sabha, who proposed the initiation of proceedings against him, withdrew their signatures.
2. On 20 April 2018, a petition seeking impeachment of CJI Dipak Misra was submitted by seven opposition parties to the Vice President, Venkiyah Naidu. The petition was rejected by the Vice President.
3. On 19 April 2019, a junior court assistant and a former employee in CJI Gogoi’s office sent a complaint-letter attached with a detailed affidavit to 22 Judges of the Supreme Court of India, narrating a series of events, spelling out how CJI Gogoi had allegedly sexually harassed her.

Conclusion

The Constitution of India plays a major role with the help of other rules and laws enforced from time to time to strengthen the judiciary system of India. The Supreme Court of India has been granted the utmost authority by the Indian Constitution.

The decision of the supreme court can not be challenged. However, the parliament and the President of the country holds the right to impeach the Supreme Court Judge, as and when needed.

This was all about Judiciary of India. Do share your feedback in the comment section.