Fact Sheet

    Law and Justice are understood in an integrated manner in India, and the institutions involved in it are – Legislative which frames the law, executive agencies which see that it is enforced, and the Judiciary which interprets the law and sees to it that law is respected. An independent Judiciary is the bulwark of freedom of the citizens, and India is exceptionally lucky in having a Judiciary that is assertive and independent. The social and economic progress of the people has been facilitated to a great extend by the nature of laws enacted by the legislatures. And the ability of the executive to apply the laws fairly and justly holds the key to a peaceful and law-abiding society.

    The ideal before the state and all its branches has been laid down by the Constitution in its preamble which seeks to secure to all the citizens,

"JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LEGISLATION

    The main sources of law in India are the Constitution, statutes (or legislation), customary law, case law (Judicial interpretation of statutes and the principles laid down in the cases put up before the Judiciary), and delegated legislation which are the rules, regulations and bye-laws made by Central/State Governments and local bodies. The most fundamental source is the Constitution, which gives powers to various institutions to make laws and enforce them, the important source of framing of law is the legislature, and the most voluminous source is the delegated legislation. In India, local customs and conventions, which are not against any enacted law or ideals of morality are respected as binding law.

    The Union Parliament, composed of two houses, the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), is competent to make laws on subjects listed under the Union List or the Concurrent List provided in the Constitution. The power of the Parliament includes the power to amend Constitution in the manner prescribed in the Consumption itself. The State Legislature has the power to enact laws on the subjects mentioned in the Concurrent or the State List, and these laws shall be valid for the State. If any law on a subject in the Concurrent list is made by both the Union and the State Legislature, the law of the Union Legislature shall prevail.

STRUCTURTE OF JUDICIARY

    In India there is a single integrated system of Courts, at the apex of it is the Supreme Court, which comprises Chief Justice, and 25 other Judges (Article 124). The exclusive original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more States, or between the States themselves (Article 131). As per Article 32 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court can issue direction or orders or writs, including writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, to protect the Fundamental Rights of the citizens. Supreme Court also has the authority to withdraw any case or cases pending before any High Court, if it is satisfied that a substantial question of law of general importance is involved. Appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (Article 133 to136) can be invoked by certificate by the High Court, or by special leave granted by the Supreme Court, in case of any decree, judgement or final order of any High Court on any matter, Civil or Criminal, involving substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution of India. Under Article 143, the Supreme Court also has an advisory jurisdiction, under which the President may ask the advice of the Supreme Court on any question of law.

    The High Courts stand at the head of States’ judicial administration (Article 214 to 231). There are 21 High Courts in the country, three of them with jurisdiction over more than one State. Every High Court has a Chief Justice and such other Judges as the President may from time to time appoint. In appointment of Judge of High Court the President consults the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of that State and the Chief Justice of the High Court of that State. The Civil and Criminal Jurisdictions of the High Courts are primarily governed by the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure. Article 226 of the Constitution gives to the High Courts the power of issuance of Writs to protect both the Fundamental Rights and the Legal Rights of the citizens. Each High Court has administrative powers of superintendence over all the courts within its jurisdiction (Article 235).

    The structure and functions of subordinate courts are more or less uniform throughout the country. These courts derive their powers and jurisdiction principally from the two codes, of Civil and Criminal Procedure. Subordinate judiciary is also composed of hierachical structure, both in civil and criminal sides, and the court of District and Sessions Judges is the court of Original Jurisdiction at district level. There are 13000 district and subordinate courts in the country.

    Administrative Tribunals are set up under provisions of Article 232-A of the Constitution. The Central Administrative Tribunal was set-up in 1985, to provide to the employees of the Central Government speedy and cheap justice in service matters. The appeal of the order of CAT now goes to the High Courts. The principal bench of CAT is at New Delhi, and there are 16 other regular benches. Some of the States have also created their State Administrative Tribunals along the same lines.

    The Family Courts Act, 1984 aims at promoting conciliation in family disputes and securing speedy and cost effective resolution of disputes relating to marriage and other family disputes. Seventy three family courts have been set-up so far.

    Similarly, Lok Adalats are a mechanism to promote resolution of dispute through conciliatory and cheap methods. Upto end of 1999, a total of 25 lakh persons have benefited through court oriented free legal aid performance. Of these, 3.92 lakh persons belonged to Scheduled Castes and 2.26 lakh to Scheduled Tribes. More than 2.77 lakh persons benefited were women and about 9,066 children. During 1999-2000, 63,263 persons received free legal aid and advice in law courts. Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, Lok Adalats have been given the powers of a Civil Court, and every award made by the court is binding on all parties concerned.

    The difficulty for the poor to get justice lies in both their lack of means and illiteracy, and therefore, it becomes a duty of the State to focus on legal aid and legal awareness programme. A high-powered committee, known as Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes, Legal Service, has been in existence since 1980, for overall co-ordination in formulating and implementing legal aid schemes. Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 came into force from 1995, and under it, the above named committee is now named as National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). Under the Act every citizen whose income does not exceed Rs.9000/- per annum, is eligible for fee legal aid in cases before High Court and Subordinate Courts. In the case of Supreme Court the income is Rs.50,000/- per annum. Limitation as to income does not apply to persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children, etc. NALSA also promotes legal literacy and hold legal aids camps and Lok Adalats. Till the end of 1999, 25 lakh people were benefited through court oriented legal aid progrmmes by the State Legal Aid and Advice Boards.

    Sixteen Law Commissions have so far been constituted by the Government on judicial reforms, and these have submitted 174 reports on various subjects relating to law, justice and their reforms. The Fifteenth Law Commission was constituted in September, 1997 under the Chairmanship of Shri Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy for a period of three years. The sixteenth Law Commission, appointed with effect from September 1, 2000 for a period of three years, is also headed by Shri Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy.

    In India, there are people with different religious faiths, and different customs. They are governed traditionally by their own sets of personal laws. Personal laws relate to matters related to marriage, divorce, succession etc. During the period of British Raj, these laws were codified into several enactments like:

The Converts’ Marriage Dissolution Act, 1866

The Indian Divorce Act, 1869

The Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872

The Anand Marriage Act, 1909

The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929

The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, and

The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939.

After Independence, the efforts in the direction of making the personal laws more modern and just, have resulted in :

The Special Marriage Act, 1954, (persons of different faiths can register marriage under it).

The Hindua Marriage Act, 1955, (this includes provisions for divorce in Section 13),

The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956,

The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956,

The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, and

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

    As regards the reforms in the personal laws of the minority communities, it has been the policy of the Government to bring in reform only at the initiative of these communities themselves.

    The Department of Company Affairs is the primary agency responsible for the development and efficient functioning of the corporate sector comprising the joint stock companies. The objectives in this regard are sought to be achieved by the Department mainly through administration of the Companies Act, 1956 and the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969. Further, it is also concerned with the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 and the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 for the proper growth of the professions of Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants and Company Secretaries. Apart from the aforesaid Acts, the responsibility of discharging the functions of the Central Government relating to the Administration of the Partnership Act, 1932, the Companies (Donations to National Funds) Act, 1951 and Societies Registration Act, 1860 also rests with the Department.