Structure & Hierarchy of Courts in India
The Constitution of India lays out the framework of the Indian judicial system. India has adopted a federal system of government which distributes the law enacting power between the Centre and the States. Yet the Constitution establishes a single integrated system of judiciary comprising of courts to administer both Central and State laws. The Supreme Court located in New Delhi is the apex court of India. It is followed by various High Courts at the state level which function for one or more number of states. The High Courts are followed by district and subordinate courts which are known as the lower courts in India. To supplement the functioning of the courts, there exist specialised tribunals to adjudicate sector specific claims such as labour, consumer, service matter disputes.
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India came into being on 28 January,1950. It replaced both the Federal Court of India and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which were at the apex of the Indian court system, under the colonial era. The Constitution of India as it stood in 1950 envisaged a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and 7 Judges. The Parliament was granted the power to increase the number of judges in the coming years. At present, the total strength of the Supreme Court is 34 judges including the Chief Justice of India. A group of judges sitting together on a legal matter in the Court constitutes a bench. A division bench comprises of two or three judges. A constitutional bench comprises of five or more judges and may even extend to thirteen judges.
High Courts
India consists of 25 High Courts at the state and union territory level. Each High Court has jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories. Below, the High Courts exists a hierarchy of lower courts functioning as civil courts and criminal courts as well as the specialised tribunals. The Madras High Court (1862) in Chennai, Bombay High Court (1862) in Mumbai, Calcutta High Court (1862) in Kolkata and the Allahabad High Court (1866) in Allahabad are the first four High Courts in India.
