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at the district level are divided into two broad Judicial Magistrate can appeal to the Sessions
categories : civil and criminal. Let us understand Judge. A person can also appeal to the High Court
that civil cases are private cases that take place or the Supreme Court depending upon the merit of
between individuals/groups, while criminal cases the case.
are considered to have been committed against Generally, the post of the District Judge and the
the state. Thus, when a crime occurs, it is the Sessions Judge is held by the same person.
police that plays the most important part; while in
a civil case, the involved people can go to the
court of law directly.
Civil Cases : Civil cases pertain to property and
financial disputes. These cases are decided in a
civil court. The court of the District Judge is the
highest court on the civil side. Other civil courts
include those of Additional District Judge, First
Class Judges, Munsifs etc. The lowest court at the
village level is the Nyaya Panchayat. Supreme Court
District Court Quiz Time
Write True or False :
Civil Court Criminal Court 1. A Patwari maintains land records and assesses
land revenue. ________
District Judge / Sessions Judge /
Additional District Judge Additional Sessions Judge 2. The court of the sessions Judge is the lowest
court on criminal side. ________
Subordinate Civil Judge Chief Judicial Magistrate 3. The lowest court at the village level is the Nyaya
Panchayat. ________
Munsif First Class /
Second Class Magistrates 4. PWD stands for Public works district. ________
5. Civil cases pertain to property and financial
disputes. ________
Nyaya Panchayat
Criminal Cases : Criminal cases violate the law of Case Study
the land, such as murder, theft, cheating, arson, In Bhavanpur, a tehsil under a district, there lived
violence etc. The court of the Sessions Judge is the two brothers—Mohanlal and Sohanlal. A house was
highest court on criminal side. The lower courts bought in the name of Mohanlal twenty years ago.
include those of the Additional Sessions Judge, Mohanlal and Sohanlal had an understanding
Chief Judicial Magistrate, First Class Magistrate,
Second Class Magistrate. The lowest court at the between them, and they utilised one-half of the
village level is the Nyaya Panchayat. house for each of themselves, though the house
had a common courtyard. The understanding
The power of the court in terms of fine and between them was never put into writing, as such
punishment decreases with the lower courts. Thus, the house continued to be shown in the land
the Sessions Judge can award the death penalty or records as one unit belonging to Mohanlal.
imprisonment for life, while a Nyaya Panchayat can
only fine and cannot send any person to jail. Now the sons of Mohanlal and Sohanlal live in this
house, while these two brothers have already
When a person is not satisfied with the judgement expired. The sons of Sohanlal, namely Arun and
of a court, he can go in appeal to the higher court Deepak, put their claims for a share in the house,
of law; for example, a person tried by a Chief
which the sons of Mohanlal, namely Roshan and
Contemporary Social Science-6
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