What is a Subordinate Court?

A Subordinate Court is a lower court below the High Court stationed in every district to look into state-level cases. All the courts except the High Court come under the category of Subordinate Courts as they work under the subordination of the High Court.

Who supervises all the Subordinate Courts in a State?

The High Court is the only authority that supervises the Subordinate Courts in a state. Being the higher authority, High Court has the authority of superintendence and has full control over all the Subordinate Courts in all kinds of cases.

Who appoints the Subordinate Judiciary?

The Subordinate Judiciary is appointed by the Governor of the state along with the consultation of the High Court. Article 233 of Part 6 of the Indian constitution provides for the appointment, promotion, and posting of District Judges across all states.

Name the different Subordinate Courts?

There are three types of Subordinate Courts. The first type is Civil Courts which deal with the civil cases of the general public including family disputes. The second type is the Criminal Courts which deal with criminal cases. The third type is the Revenue Courts which deal with the cases of land revenue.

Why are Subordinate Courts known as lower Courts?

Subordinate Courts are also known as the lower courts . They are called lower courts as they are lower in the hierarchy compared to the High Court. These Subordinate Courts function under the subordination of a High Court.

What are the different names given for the Subordinate Court?

The terms Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, and Senior Civil Judge Court are also used to refer to subordinate courts on the civil side. On the criminal side, the subordinate courts are the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, and First Class Judicial Magistrate Court.

How many judges are there in Subordinate Court?

The Subordinate Court is presided over by one District Judge , appointed by the Governor with the consultation of High Court. Other than the District Judge, there are other judges as well in the Subordinate Court.

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Subordinate Court: Types, Appointment of District Judge | Subordinate Court UPSC

By Balaji

Updated on: February 17th, 2023

A Subordinate Court in India is counted among the list of courts that are lower in rank than the High Court and functions as its subordinate. The Subordinate Courts are directly under the control of the High Court. All the other courts except the High Court come under the list of Subordinate Courts and form the Subordinate Judiciary in India. The High Court is positioned at the top & is the highest judicial body.

A Subordinate Court generally refers to the lower-level, district courts that are appointed in every state. They ensure law and order are maintained, and justice is provided to the people of each state through proper judicial procedure. Understand the structure of the judiciary for the upcoming UPSC Exam.

Table of content

1. Subordinate Court
2. Types of Subordinate Courts
3. Appointment of District Judges in Subordinate Courts
4. Subordinate Courts – Articles 233 to 237
5. Functions of Subordinate Court
6. Subordinate Courts: Organization and Structure
7. Subordinate Court UPSC
8. Subordinate Court UPSC Questions

Subordinate Court

As is evident from the term itself, a Subordinate Court is a state-specific lower court that acts under the jurisdiction of the State High Court. The judicial process might differ with each state. There are generally many kinds of Subordinate Courts in India state-wise that handle various types of cases. These courts are either ruled upon by a District Judge or a District and Sessions Judge.

A Subordinate Court may also act upon more than one state depending on the cases and the population of every district. The final decisions taken by a District Court are further subjected to the appellate authority of the High Court. Articles 233-237 in the 6th part of the Constitution of India mention the provisions related to the Subordinate Courts.

Types of Subordinate Courts

Each district in India has its own District-level court depending upon the number of cases and the population there. Generally, the types of Subordinate Courts are categorized into three classes based on the types of cases they look into, such as:

Civil Subordinate Court

Based on the kind of cases that the Civil Court receives, it has been given this name. We can easily say that a Civil Court looks into cases related to familial disputes, and disagreements, including landlord-tenant disputes.

A District Judge or a District Sessions Judge presides over a Civil Court and can sometimes be represented by a Sub-Judge in the small family courts.

Civil Courts are responsible for the settlement of such family disputes.
Generally, a Civil Court doesn’t reprimand the parties involved.
Non-criminal issues like those of property, succession, ownership, etc are dealt with by the Civil Courts that give out decisions as per the Civil Procedure Code.

Criminal Subordinate Court

As clear by the name, a Criminal Court handles criminal cases. Such cases involve disrespect and violation of laws and therefore involve punishment. Criminal cases are generally cases of theft, assault, murder, etc. Such cases are usually filed on behalf of the state by the police in the Court.

Criminal Court is addressed by a Sessions Judge or a Sessions & District Judge.
A Metropolitan Judge is also present at times under the Sessions Judge.
The accused party is subject to severe punishment if proven guilty.
The Criminal Court cases are settled based on the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.

Revenue Subordinate Court

The third type of Subordinate Court is the Revenue Court. Clearly, these types of courts tackle cases related to land revenue in any state. The highest court of revenue in any district is the Board of Revenue.

The Board of Revenue is the highest authority and only takes up the final appeals.
Other authorized people in the Board of Revenue are the Courts of Commissioners, Collectors, Tehsildars, and Naib or Assistant Tehsildars.

Appointment of District Judges in Subordinate Courts

The appointment of a District or a Sessions Judge for a Subordinate Court is taken up by the Governor of the State along with the High Court. There are a few conditions for someone to be eligible for a District Judge which are:

One should have been non-working in the state for a minimum period of 7 years.
The candidate will have to be recommended by the High Court.
He/ She should have been a pleaser or an advocate for 7 years.

Subordinate Courts – Articles 233 to 237

Part 6 of the Indian Constitution specifies the provisions relating to the Subordinate Courts in India. These provisions have been mentioned in Articles 233 to 237 of the constitution. Let’s have a look at each of the Articles that deal with the Subordinate Judiciary system.

Article of the Constitution	Details
Article 233	Related to the appointment of District Judges
Article 234	Concerns about the appointment of others except for the District Judges
Article 235	Mentions about the control over the Subordinate Court
Article 236	Talks about the interpretation
Article 237	Related to the application of the provisions to Magistrates

Functions of Subordinate Court

Based on the different types of cases being handled, a Subordinate Court has been divided into three types. All three types of courts look into three different types of categories & adopt their policy to announce final decisions. The functions of the subordinate courts include:

A Civil Court takes up civil cases that are mostly related to family disputes, landlord-tenant issues, etc. as they do not formally violate any law, therefore the court does not announce any kind of punishment here.
A Criminal Court tackles all the cases related to serious crimes such as murder, physical assault, dacoity, etc. Since these involve violations of the law, serious penalties and punishments are announced in such cases.
The Revenue Courts handle cases related to land revenues and act accordingly.

Subordinate Courts: Organization and Structure

The Subordinate Judiciary in India follows a specific structure maintaining the hierarchy. The roles and responsibilities are distinguished, and the mode of operation also differs in each Subordinate Court.

The power, structure, and nomenclature of the Subordinate Court are decided upon by the concerned state.
The top-most authority is the Supreme Court under which three different levels of civil and criminal courts are present.
With respect to civil and criminal cases, the District Judge has the highest authority.
While addressing criminal cases, a judge is called a Sessions Judge whereas while looking into civil cases, a judge is called a District Judge.
A Sessions Judge has the authority to give away a death sentence or life imprisonment to a criminal.

Subordinate Court UPSC

The topic of the Subordinate Court is extremely important from the perspective of the IAS exam. Therefore all the candidates preparing for the UPSC exam should be well-versed in the topic so that they can answer the Polity questions that appear in the exam in a correct manner.

Subordinate Court UPSC Questions

Check out some of the Previous Year’s Questions to understand the exam better.

Question: Which of the following statements regarding subordinate courts are correct?

They function at district and lower levels.
The pattern and designation of subordinate courts in the States is not uniform.
Munsiff ’s courts have both civil and criminal jurisdiction.
The pattern of subordinate courts in metropolitan areas is the same as that in districts.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

1 and 2
1 and 3
2 and 3
3 and 4

Answer: Option A

Question: Who appoints the judicial offcers of the subordinate judiciary other than the district judges?

Union Public Service Commission
State Public Service Commission
Governor in accordance with the rules made by him in consultation with the High Court and State Public Service Commission
Governor in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such state

Answer: Option C

Important Notes for UPSC
August Offer 1940	Political Causes of Revolt of 1857
British Colonialism in India	Indira Point
Moplah Rebellion	Indian Agriculture
Third and Fourth Anglo Mysore War	Climate of India
Miniratna Companies in India	Second Anglo Maratha War