KNC501/KNC601 Constitution of India, Law and Engineering
Chapter 8: The Legal System
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Appendix
The Court Structure
Courts decide what really happened and what should be done about it. They decide whether a person committed a crime and what the punishment should be. They also provide a peaceful way to decide private disputes that people can’t resolve themselves.
The judicial system of India is mainly consisting of three types of courts the Supreme Court, the High Courts, and the subordinate courts.
- District Court – The courts that most people interact with are called subordinate or district courts or Tehsil level courts.
- High Court – Each state has a High Court which is the highest court of that state.
- Supreme Court – These are the top-level court of the Country.
Courts decide what really happened and what should be done about it. They decide whether a person committed a crime and what the punishment should be. They also provide a peaceful way to decide private disputes that people can’t resolve themselves.
Function of Court
- The Due Process Function – Protect Individual Rights.
- The Crime Control Function – Punishment & repression of criminal conduct.
- The Rehabilitation Function – Provide treatment to offenders, when appropriate.
- The Bureaucratic Function.
India has a single integrated judicial system. The judiciary in India has a pyramidal structure with the Supreme Court (SC) at the top. High Courts are below the SC, and below them are the district and subordinate courts.
The lower courts function under the direct superintendence of the higher courts.
The diagram below gives the structure and organisation of the judicial system in the country.
Apart from the above structure, there are also two branches of the legal system, which are:
- Criminal Law: These deal with the committing of a crime by any citizen/entity. A criminal case starts when the local police file a crime report. The court finally decides on the matter.
- Civil Law: These deal with disputes over the violation of the Fundamental Rights of a citizen.
Supreme Court has three types of jurisdictions.
They are original, appellate, and advisory.
The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court are mentioned in Articles 131, 133, 136, and 143 of the Constitution.
