Subordinate Courts

Governor

Reason — The District Judge and the Additional District Judge are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the Chief Justice and other judges of the High Court. Hence, among the given options, Governor is the correct answer.

Lok Adalats can deal with matters which are civil and not criminal in nature

Reason — The Lok Adalat is a voluntary forum that settles disputes amicably through mutual compromise, and so it deals with civil disputes rather than criminal cases. Options (1) and (3) are incorrect because Lok Adalats also relieve the regular courts of pending cases and comprise public spirited people such as lawyers, students and social workers, not only judicial officers.

High Court

Reason — The court of the District Judge is the highest court in the district and functions under the High Court of the state; hence an appeal against its verdict lies with the High Court.

All of these

Reason — Civil courts exercise jurisdiction in cases related to land, property and monetary transaction (as well as arbitration, marriage, divorce, guardianship and will); hence all the given options are correct.

Court of District Judge

Reason — The Court of the District Judge is the highest civil court in the district and hears appeals from subordinate civil courts.

Session Court

Reason — The Sessions Court is the highest criminal court in a district; it hears serious cases like murder, dacoity and violence, and the Sessions Judge can award capital punishment, subject to the approval of the High Court.

Board of Revenue

Reason — The revenue courts are arranged in ascending order as Naib Tehsildar's Court, Tehsildar's Court, Collector's Court, Commissioner's Court, and Board of Revenue. Therefore, the Board of Revenue is the highest authority in the field of revenue in a state.

Cases take a long time to get resolved

Reason — Lok Adalats settle disputes speedily, often disposing of hundreds of cases in a single day. Therefore, the statement that cases take a long time to get resolved is incorrect.

Civil courts

Reason — Cases relating to marriage, divorce and will are civil matters, and civil courts exercise jurisdiction over such cases (along with land, property, monetary transaction and guardianship).

(A) and (R) are independent of each other

Explanation — Both statements are correct. The Court of the District Judge is the highest court in the district, and it does decide both civil and criminal cases (when a judge decides civil cases he is called the District Judge (DJ), and when he decides criminal cases he is referred to as the Sessions Judge (SJ)). However, the court is the highest court in the district because of its position at the top of the district's judicial hierarchy, not because it decides both types of cases; hence Reason (R) is not the reason for Assertion (A).

Speedy justice.

Reason — Lok Adalats have no complex procedures and delivers quick justice to people by mutual compromise and understanding. Any person can move Lok Adalat by an application on a plain paper or using the format available with Legal Service Authorities.

It works on the spirit of compromise

Reason — Lok Adalat works on the spirit of compromise as shown the given case, the counselling parties agreed to put aside their differences and came to a mutual agreement.

Two types of subordinate courts in a state are Civil Courts and Criminal Courts.

The administration of justice in each district in India is entrusted to three types of courts :

1. Civil Courts
2. Criminal Courts
3. Courts of Revenue

The highest civil court in a district is the Court of the District Judge.

The highest criminal court in a district is the Sessions Court.

'Lok Adalat' means 'People's Court'. It is a voluntary forum comprising public-spirited people, including judicial officers, lawyers, social workers and law students, who persuade the parties to bring their disputes before them for a speedy and amicable settlement.

Sessions Judge's or Additional Sessions Judge's Court is the highest Criminal Court in a district.

The District Judge decides civil cases (relating to land, property, marriage, guardianship, divorce and will), whereas the Sessions Judge decides criminal cases (like theft, murder, dacoity and violence).

One advantage of the Lok Adalat is that it delivers fast and inexpensive justice, saving much time in the settlement of disputes.

Two advantages Ms. Anita will have by taking her case to the Lok Adalat are as follows:

1. Ms. Anita will get speedy justice as Lok Adalats deliver fast judgement.
2. Ms. Anita will get inexpensive justice as she will save on the costs involved in court procedures.

The cartoon highlights delay in the judicial system, where cases remain pending for years, leading to the idea that "justice delayed is justice denied."
Lok Adalats help solve this problem by settling disputes speedily, amicably and at low cost through compromise. They also reduce the burden on regular courts and help clear pending cases.

The Lok Adalat plays an important role as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Three advantages are:

1. Saves time — It settles disputes speedily; if hundreds of cases can be decided in a single day, much precious time is saved.
2. Saves money — It delivers inexpensive justice, sparing the parties the heavy expenses and long delays of regular litigation.
3. Reduces burden on regular courts — By settling large numbers of cases, it relieves the regular law courts of much of their heavy load, enabling them to deal with more serious matters.

(a) 'Lok Adalat' means 'the People's Court'. It is a voluntary forum comprising judicial officers, lawyers, social workers and law students who persuade the parties to bring their disputes before them for a speedy and amicable settlement.

(b) Lok Adalats are voluntary forums comprising judicial officers, lawyers, social workers and law students. They persuade the parties to bring their disputes before them for a speedy settlement. The regular courts provide the relevant case records. In an atmosphere of compromise, without any feeling of victory or defeat, disputes are settled amicably through mutual understanding.

(c) The advantages of Lok Adalats are given below:

1. Lok Adalats play important role in the settlement of family feuds, disputes between the neighbours and minor cases of assault and injury by settling the disputes through compromise. Since the Lok Adalats work in the spirit of compromise and understanding, both the parties feel satisfied.
2. Lok Adalats deliver fast and inexpensive justice. Any person can move Lok Adalat by an application on a plain paper or using the format available with Legal Service Authorities and expect speedy justice.
3. The Lok Adalats reduce the workload of other courts enabling them to deal with more serious matters. This reduces delays in higher courts.

(a) The judges of a High Court are appointed by the President of India. Two qualifications required for a person to be appointed as a judge of a High Court are:

1. He/She should be a citizen of India.
2. He/She should have held a judicial office in the territory of India for at least ten years, or should have been an advocate of a High Court (or of two or more such courts in succession) for at least ten years.

(b) Two cases that come under the Original Jurisdiction of the High Court are:

1. Cases relating to the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights of citizens.
2. Cases relating to wills, divorce, company law, admiralty and contempt of court.
3. Under the power of Judicial Review, High Court can interpret the Constitution.

(c) 'Lok Adalat' means 'the People's Court'. It is a voluntary forum where disputes are settled amicably and speedily without formal court procedures. Three advantages are:

1. It settles disputes speedily and saves much time.
2. It delivers inexpensive justice and saves money.
3. It reduces the workload of the regular courts, and its settlements leave no bitter taste as everything is decided in an atmosphere of harmony.

(a) The image shows a Lok Adalat in progress, where disputing parties settle their cases quickly through mutual compromise. Lok Adalats help in reducing the backlog of cases in regular courts because they settle large numbers of disputes speedily and amicably in a single sitting. By taking over family feuds, neighbours' disputes and minor cases, they relieve the regular law courts of much of their heavy load, enabling those courts to deal with more serious matters and thus reducing delays.

(b) 'Lok Adalat' means 'the People's Court'. It is a voluntary forum comprising judicial officers, lawyers, social workers and law students who persuade the opposite parties in a dispute to bring their cases before them for a speedy and amicable settlement.

(c) The advantages of the Lok Adalat are:

1. It settles disputes speedily and saves much time.
2. It delivers inexpensive justice and saves money.
3. It reduces the workload of the regular courts, enabling them to deal with more serious matters.
4. Its settlements are reached through compromise and leave no bitter taste, as everything is decided in an atmosphere of harmony.