The post provides an insight into the structure of Courts in Rajasthan.
High Court of Rajasthan
The Rajasthan High Court is the High Court of the state of Rajasthan. Rajasthan High Court was established on 21 June 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949. The high court has its principal seat at Jodhpur and a bench at Jaipur. The State is bifurcated into 35 Judgeships comprising of 388 Courts of District Judge Cadre, 319 Courts of Sr. Civil Judge Cadre and 438 Courts of Civil Judge Cadre.
- The first Chief Justice was: Kamala Kant Verma
- The Current Chief Justice is: Mr.Indrajit Mahanty.
The Rajasthan High Court Rules 1952, as amended from time to time, regulate the administrative business and judicial work in the High Court.
District Courts in Rajasthan
Under the Rajasthan High Court, there is a hierarchy of courts which are referred to in the Indian constitution as subordinate courts. There are two kinds of Subordinate Courts: the District Courts and others.
The state is divided into districts and each district has a district court which has an appellant jurisdiction in the district. These courts are under administrative control of the High Court. Currently, in the lower judiciary, there are 36 courts of District & Sessions Judges in Rajasthan.
| S. No. | District Courts under Jodhpur Bench | S. No. | District Court under Jaipur Bench |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Balotra (Barmer) | 1 | Ajmer |
| 2 | Banswara | 2 | Alwar |
| 3 | Bhilwara | 3 | Baran |
| 4 | Bikaner | 4 | Bharatpur |
| 5 | Chittorgarh | 5 | Bundi |
| 6 | Churu | 6 | Dausa |
| 7 | Dungarpur | 7 | Dholpur |
| 8 | Hanumangarh | 8 | Jaipur |
| 9 | Jaisalmer | 9 | Jaipur Metro |
| 10 | Jalore | 10 | Jhalawar |
| 11 | Jodhpur Metro | 11 | Jhunjhunu |
| 12 | Jodhpur | 12 | Karauli |
| 13 | Merta (Nagaur) | Merta | 13 | Kota |
| 14 | Pali | 14 | Sawai Madhopur |
| 15 | Pratapgarh | 15 | Sikar |
| 16 | Rajsamand | 16 | Tonk |
| 17 | Sirohi | ||
| 18 | Sri Ganganagar | ||
| 19 | Udaipur |
Sub-Ordinate Courts in Rajasthan
In each district of India there are various types of subordinate or lower courts. They are civil courts, criminal courts and revenue courts. These Courts hear civil cases, criminal cases and revenue cases, respectively. The court of the District judge is located at the district headquarters. It has power of trying both civil and criminal cases. Thus he is designated as the District and Sessions Judge.
Under the district courts, there are the lower courts such as the Additional District Court, Sub-Court, Munsiff Magistrate Court, Court of Special Judicial Magistrate of the II Class, Court of Special Judicial Magistrate of I Class, Court of Special Munsiff Magistrate for Factories Act and Labour Laws, etc.
At the bottom of the hierarchy of Subordinate Courts are the Panchayat Courts (Nyaya Panchayat, Panchayat Adalat etc). These are, however, not considered as courts under the purview of the criminal courts jurisdiction. Most of the civil cases are filed in the court of the Munsif. A case can be taken in appeal from the court of the Munsif to the court of the sub-Judge or the Additional Sub-Judge.
Further Reading:
- Rajasthan High Court – Handbook
- High Courts & Sub-ordinate Courts – NOS PDF:
