Understanding the Indian Judicial System

The judiciary is a system of courts and the judges serving in those courts. In India, the judiciary is one of the three arms of the government. The other two are the executive and the legislature. The judiciary helps interpret the law and settles disputes. It delivers justice to the nation’s citizens. Additionally, the judiciary safeguards the Indian constitution.

The judiciary in India is independent. This allows it to function well, resulting in a democratic system. Independence, in this case, means that the other arms of the government can’t interfere with its operations. It also means that its decisions are respected, and no entity can question it.

The judiciary in India traces back to ancient times when the king was the highest judge, and the family arbitrator sat at the bottom rank. Civilization brought judges known as Vedas who made rulings based on “dharma,” a set of rules detailing how individuals should live their lives. The law at this time was created around Indian customs.

The Qazi system followed, and Qazis did trials for disputing parties in special courts in every province. The Qazi system gave back the king a judicial role as the ruler of the highest court of appeal. This system ended when the British colonized India and introduced the common law system. This is the system still in use in modern-day India.

Indeed, the Indian judicial system performs several functions. Among them, the judiciary upholds and interprets the constitution. It protects the ideals of the constitution and disallows any laws that go against its provisions. Also, it resolves doubts relating to such provisions.

It also assists in law-making. While the legislature is mandated to create laws, the judiciary makes several recommendations that the legislature later incorporates into the law. This includes making new laws and amending existing ones.

The Indian judiciary protects the fundamental rights of its citizens, non-citizens, and other natural persons. However, the executive and the legislature may have acts that may infringe upon such rights. Therefore, the judiciary issues writs, ensuring no fundamental right gets infringed.

The Indian governance system follows a federal structure, with states as administrative units. Such units must work together for the common of the national union. However, disputes do arise between these states. The Indian Supreme Court has the mandate to settle such disputes.

Based on common law, the Indian judicial system’s structure comprises the Supreme Court, high courts, and other subordinate courts at different administrative levels. Instituted in 1950, the Supreme Court is the highest. It oversees appeal cases and new cases. The Chief Justice and 25 judges preside over the court.

The high courts are the highest judicial organs in every state and have jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters. They also hear appeal cases from lower village, municipal, and district courts. Below the high courts are the district courts, set up by every state to administer over districts making up a state. District courts get their authority from the high courts and follow the latter’s judgments.

There are two types of district courts: civil courts and criminal courts. Civil courts preside over cases between disputing individuals, including contract breaches and divorce suits. Criminal courts, on the other hand, hear criminal cases; conducts that are against the state and society and include murder, robbery with violence, offences against women and children etc.