Question

Name the highest criminal court in a district.

Answer 1

Hint: The Indian Judicial system is an integrated one. This means that it has a hierarchical structure such that the Supreme Court is at the apex, followed by the High Courts at the state level and the lower/subordinate courts at the district level. Constitutional Provisions regarding the Union Judiciary are mentioned in Articles 124-147 and those regarding State Judiciary namely High Courts and lower courts are mentioned in Articles 214-237. Under Article 141 of the Constitution, any judgement or order of the Supreme Court serves as a binding precedent for the lower subordinate courts.

Complete Step by Step answer: There are two types of lower courts—civil and criminal courts. The District Court judged by the District Judge is the highest court that has original civil jurisdiction in the district apart from the state High Court. The District Court and District Judge also have jurisdiction over criminal matters and are referred to as the Session Court and Sessions Judge respectively when presiding over criminal matters. It serves as the highest criminal court in the district.

Note: The District Judge is appointed by the Governor of the State on the advice of the Chief Justice of the state’s High Court. Additionally, there are also additional district judges and assistant district judges who have the same jurisdiction as the District Judge and are supervised by the District Judge. Some examples of subordinate courts are Senior Civil Judge Court and Junior Civil Judge Court for civil matters and Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court for criminal matters.