"Administration of Justice" is one of the fundamental functions of any Government. The Policy of the Government is to ensure justice to all citizens according to the principles enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Government is committed to ensure the independence of judiciary in the State, and to facilitate the expeditious dispensation of justice. The Government of Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in extending speedy, socio-economic justice to all citizens by sanctioning the constitution of courts wherever necessary, and providing for additional infra-structural facilities and other requirements of the Judiciary.

The Supreme Court of India in New Delhi is the apex court of our Country. It has control over all the High Courts functioning in the States. The hierarchy of Judiciary at the State Level is as follows: -

In addition, the following courts/offices are also functioning under various provisions:

1. Official Assignee, High Court, Madras.

2. Administrator General and Official Trustee, Chennai.

3. Labour Courts at Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Salem, Tiruchirapalli and Vellore.

4. Industrial Tribunal, Chennai.

5. Family Courts at Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Salem.

6. Special Courts for trial of Economic Offences at Chennai and Madurai.

7. Special Courts for Protection of Civil Rights.

8. Designated courts under "TADA" Act.

9. Special Courts for the trial of Essential Commodities Act cases and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotrophic Substances Act Cases.

12. Special Court for exclusive trial of Bomb Blast cases at Chennai and Coimbatore.

13. Special Court for the trial of Cases of Communal Clashes at Madurai

14. Mahila Courts (Magalir Neethimandram) at Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli and Salem.

15. Fast Track Courts.

The expenditure of the High Court of Madras and Madras High Court Bench at Madurai is classified as "CHARGED" and the expenditure for the remaining part of the Judiciary as "VOTED".

The High Court is the Highest Court of Justice in the State. The sanctioned strength of Honourable Judges of the High Court is 49 including the Honourable The Chief Justice. The High Court (Both Principal Bench at Madras and the Madurai Bench) is now functioning with a strength of 25 judges.

The High Court exercises writ jurisdiction and original jurisdiction in civil matters. It has appellate jurisdiction also both in Civil and Criminal matters. On the original side, the High Court tries suits above the value of Rs.10,00,000/- arising within the City of Chennai. The distribution of work among the Honourable Judges is done by the Honourable The Chief Justice. The High Court is also exercising extended jurisdiction over the Union Territory of Pondicherry and the expenditure on the Officers and the Staff attending to Pondicherry matters in the High Court is initially incurred by the Government of Tamil Nadu and is reimbursed subsequently by the Government of Pondicherry.

The Registrar General with association of Registrar (Vigilance), Registrar (Judicial), Registrar (Administration) and Registrar (Management) is the Administrative head of the High Court. The Registrars are assisted by the Master, Deputy Registrars, Assistant Registrars, Chief Accounts Officer, Sub-Assistant Registrars.

Besides dispensing Justice, the High Court exercises full administrative control over the entire Subordinate Judiciary in the State.

Excepting Original Jurisdiction, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court exercises Jurisdiction in all other matters as in the case of the Madras High Court.

(a) City Civil Court, Chennai.

There are 31 Judicial Officers, consisting of 12 in the cadre of District Judge including one Magalir Neethimandram Judge, 18 in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division) and the Registrar in the cadre of Civil Judge (Junior Division) who is in charge of Administration. The Territorial Jurisdiction of the City Civil Court extends over the whole of the city of Chennai.

By Act 1 of 2004, the Tamil Nadu Civil Courts Act, 1873 and the Chennai City Civil Court Act, 1892 have been amended, revising the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Assistant Judge and Principal Judge of City Civil Court as under:

The cases whose value is in excess of Rs.10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten lakhs only) have to be instituted in the High Court. The City Civil Court is also functioning as the Sessions Court for the Chennai Sessions Division.

The total expenditure in respect of the City Civil Court is estimated at Rs.6,28,56,000/- for 2005-2006.

The V and VI Judges are exclusively functioning as Tribunals for the trial of cases under the Motor Vehicles Act. The Chief Judge and II, III and IV Judges have also been empowered to try cases under the Motor Vehicles Act. The X to XVI Judges are functioning as Rent Controllers for the City of Chennai. The Chief Judge and Judges II to IV, VII and VIII are empowered to hear rent control appeals. The expenditure on the Small Causes Court is estimated as Rs.2,45,04,000/- (Rupees Two Crores, forty five lakhs and four thousand only) for 2005-2006.

There are 25 District Courts in the State. The District Courts for four new revenue districts viz., Theni, Tiruvallur, Thiruvarur and Krishnagiri-are to be constituted. The District Judges are also the Sessions Judge of the respective Divisions. They are also functioning as Special Tribunals under certain special enactments such as the Employees State Insurance Act, the Estate Abolition Act and the Motor Vehicles Act.

By Act 1 of 2004, the Tamil Nadu Civil Courts Act, 1873 and the Chennai City Civil Court Act, 1892 have been amended revising the pecuniary Jurisdiction of the Mofussil Civil Courts whereby the pecuniary jurisdiction of the District Munsif’s Court has been enhanced. The Jurisdiction of the Sub-Courts which previously enjoyed unlimited Jurisdiction has been limited and District Courts which did not have, in the past, original Jurisdiction are vested with original Jurisdiction, as under :

They exercise Civil Appellate Jurisdiction over the District. The District Judges are inspecting the Subordinate Civil Courts in their respective Divisions.

The District Munsifs now redesignated as Civil Judges (Junior Division) exercise pecuniary jurisdiction upto Rs.1,00,000/-. Each District Munsif’s Court has defined

territorial Jurisdiction. They are exercising Small Causes jurisdiction also upto Rs.20,000/-. They are Rent Controllers of their respective areas. There are 159 District Munsif Courts functioning in the State.

The litigant public of certain parts of the State have been experiencing difficulties in having their civil grievances redressed and they have to resort to Civil Courts outside their area, due to the absence of Civil Courts in the locality. With a view to mitigate their difficultis, those Courts try both civil and criminal cases. The total number of District Munsif-cum-Judicial Magistrate Courts are 64. A Civil Court consists of three Establishments namely, Regular Establishment, Copyist Establishment and Process Service Establishment.

The expenditure in respect of all District Courts, Sub-Courts and District Munsif Courts in the Mofussil for 2005-2006 is estimated at Rs.83,06,01,000/-.

There are 10 Labour Courts functioning in the State: three in Chennai, and one each in Madurai, Coimbatore, Vellore, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Cuddalore and Tirunelveli. There is also an Industrial Tribunal in Chennai having state-wide jurisdiction.

The Presiding Officers of the Labour Courts and the Industrial Tribunal are in the cadre of District Judges. The Labour Courts are adjudicating the labour disputes referred to them by the Government and also the claim petitions filed by parties.

All the Presiding Officers of the Labour Courts and the Industrial Tribunal are touring officers and they hold Camp Courts for adjudicating labour disputes and claim petitions in their respective jurisdiction.

The expenditure in respect of the Labour Courts and the Industrial Tribunal, Chennai for the year 2005-2006 is estimated at Rs.2,37,55,000/-.

There are 24 Metropolitan Magistrate Courts functioning in the City of Chennai including the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and the Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, One Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and the second, third, fourth, tenth and eleventh Metropolitan Magistrates are in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division). All other Metropolitan Magistrates are in the cadre of Civil Judge (Junior Division). The Metropolitan Magistrates are exercising jurisdiction with reference to the Police Stations in the City of Chennai.

The expenditure in respect of Metropolitan Magistrate Courts in the City is estimated at Rs.3,83,97,000/- for 2005-2006.

There are 25 Chief Judicial Magistrates. The Chief Judicial Magistrates are also conferred with the powers of any Assistant Sessions Judge in certain category of cases. They inspect the Court of Judicial Magistrates in their respective District.

A Judicial Magistrate Court is functioning in almost all the taluks. There are 180 Judicial Magistrate Courts in the State. The estimated expenditure on the Criminal Courts in the Mofussil is of the order of Rs.35,72,94,000/- during 2005-2006.

There are four Additional Sessions Courts for trial of cases registered under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Protection of Civil Rights Act with the following Districts as their Jurisdiction: -

In respect of the remaining districts, the concerned Principal Sessions Court will try the offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The expenditure in respect of the Special Courts for the Protection of Civil Rights Act cases is estimated at Rs.62,67,000/- for the year 2005-2006.

There are three Special Courts, two at Chennai viz. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate E.O.I & E.O.II and one at Madurai, for trial of Economic Offences. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate E.O.I & E.O.II at Chennai are in the cadre of District Judge and the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Madurai is in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division). The expenditure for these courts is estimated at Rs.45,96,000/- for the year 2005-2006.

There are six Family Courts: three at Chennai, and one each at Madurai, Coimbatore and Salem. The expenditure on Family Courts is estimated at Rs.1,51,83,000/- for 2005-2006.

There are 4 Special Courts functioning for exclusive trial of C.B.I. cases in the State: two in Chennai and one each at Madurai and Coimbatore. The expenditure on Special Courts for CBI cases is estimated at Rs.83,42,000/- for 2005-2006.

The expenditure in respect of the Tribunal constitution under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908 is estimated at Rs.15,83,000/- for the year 2005-2006.

There are two Special Courts to deal with sandalwood offences, one at Tiruppathur in Vellore District and one at Salem in Salem District in the cadre of Judicial Magistrate.

There are Railway Magistrate's Courts in the Districts of Vellore, Cuddalore, Coimbatore, Salem, Madurai, Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli, besides those at Egmore and Central Railway Stations in Chennai for trial of offences in respect of ticketless travel etc. under the Indian Railway Act. The expenditure on Railway Magistrate's Courts is borne by the Judicial Department and the fines collected by the Railway Magistrate's Courts are credited to the receipts of the Judicial Department.

There are four Mobile Courts functioning for the trial of traffic offences. Two Mobile Courts are in Chennai and one each at Coimbatore and Madurai.

Of the four courts constituted under this Act, two are functioning at Chennai and one each at Tirunelveli and Tiruchirappalli.

There are six Special Courts, one each in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Pudukkottai, Salem and Thanjavur with the Presiding Officers in the cadre of District and Sessions Judge to deal with cases under the Essential Commodities Act.

A Sessions Court for the exclusive trial of Communal Clash Cases in Southern Districts is functioning at Madurai.

Six Magalir Neethimandram (Mahila Courts) are functioning in the State one each at Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli and Salem for exclusive trial of cases of Crimes against Women.

The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (Central Act 10 of 1994) enables the State Government to specify for each District a court of Sessions to be Human Rights Courts for the purpose of providing speedy trial of cases arising out of violation of Human Rights and also to appoint Special Public Prosecutors for the Human Rights Courts.

In pursuance of the above provision, the Government, with the concurrence of the High Court, have specified all the Chief Judicial Magistrates in the State and the II Additional Sessions Judge, City Civil Court, Chennai and the Sessions Judge, Uthagamandalam as Human Rights Courts. Public Prosecutors of the District Courts have been specified as Special Public Prosecutors for conducting cases in the Human Rights Courts.

On a direction given by the High Court, Madras, the Government have taken steps to appoint Special Public Prosecutors exclusively for conducting Human Rights violation cases in the Courts.

A Special Court for exclusive trial of cases under the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, is functioning at Chennai.

On the recommendation of the XI Finance Commission to clear heavy backlog of cases, especially long pending Sessions Cases and other Criminal Cases in the Subordinate Courts in the State, 49 Fast Track Courts are functioning now in the State. The financial allocation for these Fast Track Courts from Government of India for a period of five years upto 2004-2005 is Rs.14.12 Crores.

The Administrator-General and Official Trustee, Chennai is an Officer in the cadre of a District Judge. He is assisted by the Deputy Administrator General and the Official Trustee in the cadre of Civil Judge (Junior Division). These two Officers are in-charge of Trust properties and of Minors and the Estates of deceased persons. They are performing the duties assigned to them in accordance with the provisions contained in the Administrator General Act and Official Trustees Act. The expenditure in respect of the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee for the year 2005-2006 is estimated at Rs.50,33,000/-

The expenditure in relation to the establishment in-charge of the publication of the bi-monthly Tamil Law Journal viz., (Theerpu Thirattu ) for the year 2005-2006 is estimated at Rs.20,46,000/-. The bi-monthly Law Journal (Tamil) is made available to the Advocates and the Public. The price per copy is Rs.32/-.

For the Judicial Academy constituted for the purpose of giving training to the Judicial officers, such as, District Judges, Sub-Judges, District Munsifs and the Staff of the Judiciary, the proposed expenditure for the year 2005-2006 is Rs.30,48,000/-

The Mofussil Subordinate Courts are decentralised so as to avoid overcrowding of courts at one particular center and also to give quick relief to the litigant public who are now finding it difficult to go to the existing centres for their cases.

At present, the Jurisdiction of Civil Courts in the Mofussil is fixed under the Tamil Nadu Civil Courts Act. Similarly, the Jurisdiction of the City Civil Court is fixed under Madras City Civil Court Act and the Court of Small Causes under the Presidency Small Causes Court Act.

The Jurisdiction of the District Munsif Courts extends over one or more Taluks and the Jurisdiction of Sub-courts extends over one or more Munsif Courts. The Jurisdiction of District and Sessions Court extends over more than one Revenue District in respect of Theni, Tiruvallur, Thiruvarur and Krishnagiri Districts. As far as criminal courts are concerned, the jurisdiction is fixed under the Criminal Procedure Code. The Jurisdiction of Judicial Magistrate’s Court extends over two or more Police Stations.

The Government, in consultation with the High Court, constitute new courts wherever necessary.

Tamil Nadu is the first State in the country to have special legislation to protect the interest of depositors who lost their hard-earned money with the non-banking financial institutions. The Economic Offences Wing–II in the Police Department is handling cases arising out of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act and Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance. A Special Court was constituted at Chennai to try cases arising out of the Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors Act. In the year 2004, 108 cases were registered

and a total sum of Rs.399.12 crores was refunded to the depositors, and 2,62,275 depositors were benefited by this. Properties worth Rs.1748.40 crores have been identified for attachment upto the year 2004. Value of properties attached in the year 2004 is Rs.39.34 crores. Amount settled through petitions is Rs.11.80 crores. Considering that regular interaction with the depositors will be beneficial, "Depositors Day" is conducted every saturday in the Head Quarters at Chennai. Similarly, such meetings are held once in 3 months in the Districts where EOW units are functioning, and the same programme will be continued in the year 2005. Fresh initiatives have been taken to identify the borrowers of defaulted companies so that they can settle their dues with the company. Action is also being taken to expedite the sale of properties of the defaulted companies through the Courts. The officers of the unit have been given targets, and reviews are being done regularly to ensure tangible results which will benefit the depositors.

(1) 40 Personal Computers were purchased and installed in the Home Offices of all the Honourable Judges. All the computers are provided with Internet facilities.

(2) 63 Computers and Printers with necessary peripherals have been installed for feeding the Judgments in Computer and the same is issued through Computers to the Advocates and the Litigant Public without delay.

(3) The Judgments marked by the Honourable Judges for reporting are being hosted in the Internet through National Informatics Centre Server, New Delhi for the use of Advocates and the Litigant Public.

(4) The Facilitation / Enquiry Counter has been set up in the High Court at a cost of Rs.32,90,000/- (Rupees Thirty two lakhs and ninety thousand only) for feeding date of filing and passing of cases and to provide information to the public. All the computers in the High Court are connected to the Internet for transfer of data.

(iii ) COMPUTERISATION OF CITY COURTS IN CHENNAI:

The Government of India have sanctioned Rs.2,19,00,000/- (Rupees two crores and nineteen lakhs only) under Centrally Funded Scheme for providing Computers in City Civil Courts, Court of Small Causes, Metropolitan Magistrate Courts in the City and all the Computers are connected with Network.

The Government have sanctioned a sum of Rs.26,74,000/- for the purchase of 28 Lap-Top Computers for the use of the Hon’ble Judges of High Court.

For establishing Video Conference Facility between Madras High Court and High Court Bench at Madurai, a sum of Rs.12 lakhs has been earmarked. The Government have introduced Video Conferencing Facility at 4 Courts and 4 Prisons at Chennai City, and in the II Phase, Government have introduced video conferencing facility in 58 courts and in all the Central Prisons in the State of Tamil Nadu.

The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 (as amended by the Act 59 of 1994) was enacted to provide free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society. To discharge the above functions, the State Legal Services Authority, District Legal Services Authorities, Taluk Legal Services Committees and High Court Legal Services Committee have been constituted and are functioning effectively.

The State and District Authorities and the Taluk Legal Services Committees and the High Court Legal Services Committee are empowered to organise Lok Adalats.

Lok Adalats have jurisdiction to determine and to come at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of:

any case pending before any court; or

any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of any court for which the Lok Adalat is organised but has not been brought before the court.

Every award made by a Lok Adalat shall be final and no appeal shall be made to any court against the award.

The total number of Lok Adalats held upto 31.12.2004 was 22,887.

The total number of cases settled upto 31.12.2004 was 2,20,123, of which 1,12,448 were accident claims.

Periodical Legal Aid cum Legal Literacy Promotion camps are held in rural areas.

The State Legal Services Authority is now functioning in the premises of the High Court campus in a new building. The Government have sanctioned a sum of Rs.1.85 crores for the construction of a new building for the State Legal Services Authority.

a) The Directorate of Prosecution in Tamil Nadu is headed by a police officer in the rank of Additional Director General of Police drawn from the Police Force. The Director of Prosecution is the controlling authority for the overall administrative function of the Joint Director of Prosecution, Deputy Directors of Prosecution, Assistant Directors of Prosecution and Additional Public Prosecutors attached to Chief Judicial Magistrates and Assistant Public Prosecutors Grade I and II.

b) The main aim of the Directorate of Prosecution is to have an effective control over the proper conduct of prosecution in the State and to monitor the functioning of the Law officers and Prosecuting Staff attached to the Metropolitan Magistrate Courts and Judicial Magistrate Courts and Chief Judicial Magistrate Courts spread all over the State.

An impartial and independent Judiciary is the cornerstone of the democratic federal structure of the country. Hence, due priority is being accorded to meeting the administrative and other related requirements of the judiciary, despite financial constraints. The Government is committed to upholding the independence of the judiciary, and for providing the required infrastructure and facilities to render speedy relief and justice to the public.

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