Distinction between civil and criminal cases in India; Are there separate civil and criminal courts?
I recently had to dig up info. on this matter. I have shared below the info. that I have collected from my browsing.
From http://indiancourts.nic.in/districtcourt.html
The District Courts of India are presided over by a judge. They administer justice in India at a district level. These courts are under administrative and judicial control of the High Court of the State to which the district concerned belongs.
The highest court in each district is that of the District and Sessions Judge. This is the principal court of civil jurisdiction. This is also a court of Sessions. Sessions-triable cases are tried by the Sessions Court. It has the power to impose any sentence including capital punishment.
There are many other courts subordinate to the court of District and Sessions Judge. There is a three tier system of courts. On the civil side, at the lowest level is the court of Civil Judge (Junior Division). On criminal side the lowest court is that of the Judicial Magistrate. Civil Judge (Junior Division) decides civil cases of small pecuniary stake. Judicial Magistrates decide criminal cases which are punishable with imprisonment of up to five years.
At the middle of the hierarchy there is the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) on the civil side and the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate on the Criminal side. Civil Judge (senior division) can decide civil cases of any valuation. There are many additional courts of Additional Civil Judge (senior division).The Jurisdiction of these addition courts is the same as that of the principal court of Civil Judge (Senior Division). The Chief Judicial Magistrate can try cases which are punishable with imprisonment for a term up to seven years. Usually there are many additional courts of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrates. At the top level there may be one or more courts of additional district and sessions judge with the same judicial power as that of the District and Sessions judge.
Judicial independence of each court is the characteristic feature of the district judiciary. In each district there is a strong bar which ensures that courts decide cases according to law and without fear or favour. The greatest problem of district courts is that of huge backlog of cases leading to undue delay in deciding cases.
--- end extract from http://indiancourts.nic.in/districtcourt.html ---
Ravi: But what does the term "sessions" mean? From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sessions_Court, "A Sessions Court is a lesser court of law which exists in several democratic countries, including India, Malaysia, and the United States of America.The session court is the highest criminal court in the district."
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Courts_of_India :
The highest court in each district is that of the District and Sessions Judge. This is the principal court of original civil jurisdiction besides High Court of the State and which derives its jurisdiction in civil matters primarily from the code of civil procedure. The district court is also a court of Sessions when it exercises its jurisdiction on criminal matters under Code of Criminal procedure. The district court is presided over by one District Judge appointed by the state Government. In addition to the district judge there may be number of Additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges depending on the workload.
...
The District Court or Additional District court exercises jurisdiction both on original side and appellate side in civil and criminal matters arising in the District. The territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction in civil matters is usually set in concerned state enactments on the subject of civil courts. On the criminal side, jurisdiction is exclusively derived from the criminal procedure code. As per this code the maximum sentence a Sessions Judge of district court may award to a convict is capital punishment.
The district court has appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts situated in the district on both civil and criminal matters. Subordinate courts, on the civil side (in ascending order) are, Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Court (also called sub-court). Subordinate courts, on the criminal side (in ascending order) are, Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
Certain matters on criminal side or civil side cannot be tried by a lesser court than a district court. This gives the District Court original jurisdiction in such matters.
Appeals from the district courts lie to the High Court of the concerned state.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: So my understanding from the above sources is that the top District court (also called Sessions court) handles both civil and criminal cases. The type of cases handled by the lower level courts is indicated by the word civil in its name for civil cases, and judicial in its name for criminal cases. In at least one district in Karnataka that I checked, I found that the courts lower to the District & Sessions court, were courts that handled both civil and criminal cases, at their appropriate level. e.g. "Sr.Civil Judge & CJM Court" The first part of the name indicates that it handles civil cases of a particular level and the second part seems to be an acronym for Chief Judicial Magistrate, which indicates that it handles criminal cases of a particular level. So it handles both civil and criminal cases of particular levels.
However it seems clear that even if a court handles both civil and criminal cases, the two types of cases are different. I could not find authoritative websites that stated the differences between civil and criminal cases in India.
But here is one web forum with some info. https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-between-civil-and-criminal-cases
Civil case is between individuals or groups and the name of the case typically will be X v/s Y. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Procedure_Code,_1908, "The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is a procedural law related to the administration of civil proceedings in India."
Criminal case deals with wrongs that are viewed as wrongs against society as a whole rather than just individuals. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Penal_Code, "The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law." From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Criminal_Procedure,_1973, "The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC ) is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. Additionally, it also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents."
Ravi: It seems to me that the typical criminal case in India starts with a complainant filing a complaint with the police, which if the police find worthy of consideration, results in an F.I.R. (First Information Report). Then the police investigates the FIR and records the results of the investigation in a charge sheet. If the police find that there is not enough evidence to prove that a crime has been committed (as specified in the complainant's complaint) then they can close the case after justifying to the court why they are closing the case. But if they find enough evidence that a crime has been committed they take the case to the court. [See https://vakilsearch.com/advice/file-a-criminal-complaint-in-india/]
If the case goes to court, then I believe that it is the govt. (public) prosecutor who files the criminal case on behalf of the govt./state. It seems to me that this is very different from a civil case where govt. prosecutors are typically not involved.
Additional Resources:
1) I found this 12 page powerpoint slide type document giving, what seems to me to be, a pretty good overview of hierarchy of courts in India: http://www.mcrhrdi.gov.in/fcg2/studymaterial/week2/Anti%20Corruption%20Laws.pdf. However, as it is not a Union Ministry of Law & Justice document, it does not have the stamp of authority.
2) This 7 page document on hierarchy of courts in India has some nice diagrams. But it does not have the stamp of authority as it seems to be from a personal website: http://www.singhania.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/India_Civil_Courts_System.pdf.
[I thank indiancourts.nic.in and wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
From http://indiancourts.nic.in/districtcourt.html
The District Courts of India are presided over by a judge. They administer justice in India at a district level. These courts are under administrative and judicial control of the High Court of the State to which the district concerned belongs.
The highest court in each district is that of the District and Sessions Judge. This is the principal court of civil jurisdiction. This is also a court of Sessions. Sessions-triable cases are tried by the Sessions Court. It has the power to impose any sentence including capital punishment.
There are many other courts subordinate to the court of District and Sessions Judge. There is a three tier system of courts. On the civil side, at the lowest level is the court of Civil Judge (Junior Division). On criminal side the lowest court is that of the Judicial Magistrate. Civil Judge (Junior Division) decides civil cases of small pecuniary stake. Judicial Magistrates decide criminal cases which are punishable with imprisonment of up to five years.
At the middle of the hierarchy there is the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) on the civil side and the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate on the Criminal side. Civil Judge (senior division) can decide civil cases of any valuation. There are many additional courts of Additional Civil Judge (senior division).The Jurisdiction of these addition courts is the same as that of the principal court of Civil Judge (Senior Division). The Chief Judicial Magistrate can try cases which are punishable with imprisonment for a term up to seven years. Usually there are many additional courts of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrates. At the top level there may be one or more courts of additional district and sessions judge with the same judicial power as that of the District and Sessions judge.
Judicial independence of each court is the characteristic feature of the district judiciary. In each district there is a strong bar which ensures that courts decide cases according to law and without fear or favour. The greatest problem of district courts is that of huge backlog of cases leading to undue delay in deciding cases.
--- end extract from http://indiancourts.nic.in/districtcourt.html ---
Ravi: But what does the term "sessions" mean? From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sessions_Court, "A Sessions Court is a lesser court of law which exists in several democratic countries, including India, Malaysia, and the United States of America.The session court is the highest criminal court in the district."
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_Courts_of_India :
The highest court in each district is that of the District and Sessions Judge. This is the principal court of original civil jurisdiction besides High Court of the State and which derives its jurisdiction in civil matters primarily from the code of civil procedure. The district court is also a court of Sessions when it exercises its jurisdiction on criminal matters under Code of Criminal procedure. The district court is presided over by one District Judge appointed by the state Government. In addition to the district judge there may be number of Additional District Judges and Assistant District Judges depending on the workload.
...
The District Court or Additional District court exercises jurisdiction both on original side and appellate side in civil and criminal matters arising in the District. The territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction in civil matters is usually set in concerned state enactments on the subject of civil courts. On the criminal side, jurisdiction is exclusively derived from the criminal procedure code. As per this code the maximum sentence a Sessions Judge of district court may award to a convict is capital punishment.
The district court has appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts situated in the district on both civil and criminal matters. Subordinate courts, on the civil side (in ascending order) are, Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Court (also called sub-court). Subordinate courts, on the criminal side (in ascending order) are, Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
Certain matters on criminal side or civil side cannot be tried by a lesser court than a district court. This gives the District Court original jurisdiction in such matters.
Appeals from the district courts lie to the High Court of the concerned state.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: So my understanding from the above sources is that the top District court (also called Sessions court) handles both civil and criminal cases. The type of cases handled by the lower level courts is indicated by the word civil in its name for civil cases, and judicial in its name for criminal cases. In at least one district in Karnataka that I checked, I found that the courts lower to the District & Sessions court, were courts that handled both civil and criminal cases, at their appropriate level. e.g. "Sr.Civil Judge & CJM Court" The first part of the name indicates that it handles civil cases of a particular level and the second part seems to be an acronym for Chief Judicial Magistrate, which indicates that it handles criminal cases of a particular level. So it handles both civil and criminal cases of particular levels.
However it seems clear that even if a court handles both civil and criminal cases, the two types of cases are different. I could not find authoritative websites that stated the differences between civil and criminal cases in India.
But here is one web forum with some info. https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-differences-between-civil-and-criminal-cases
Civil case is between individuals or groups and the name of the case typically will be X v/s Y. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Procedure_Code,_1908, "The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is a procedural law related to the administration of civil proceedings in India."
Criminal case deals with wrongs that are viewed as wrongs against society as a whole rather than just individuals. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Penal_Code, "The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law." From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Criminal_Procedure,_1973, "The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC ) is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. Additionally, it also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents."
Ravi: It seems to me that the typical criminal case in India starts with a complainant filing a complaint with the police, which if the police find worthy of consideration, results in an F.I.R. (First Information Report). Then the police investigates the FIR and records the results of the investigation in a charge sheet. If the police find that there is not enough evidence to prove that a crime has been committed (as specified in the complainant's complaint) then they can close the case after justifying to the court why they are closing the case. But if they find enough evidence that a crime has been committed they take the case to the court. [See https://vakilsearch.com/advice/file-a-criminal-complaint-in-india/]
If the case goes to court, then I believe that it is the govt. (public) prosecutor who files the criminal case on behalf of the govt./state. It seems to me that this is very different from a civil case where govt. prosecutors are typically not involved.
Additional Resources:
1) I found this 12 page powerpoint slide type document giving, what seems to me to be, a pretty good overview of hierarchy of courts in India: http://www.mcrhrdi.gov.in/fcg2/studymaterial/week2/Anti%20Corruption%20Laws.pdf. However, as it is not a Union Ministry of Law & Justice document, it does not have the stamp of authority.
2) This 7 page document on hierarchy of courts in India has some nice diagrams. But it does not have the stamp of authority as it seems to be from a personal website: http://www.singhania.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/India_Civil_Courts_System.pdf.
[I thank indiancourts.nic.in and wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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