Civil cases at the sub district level are filed in subdistrict or munsif courts. Lesser criminal cases are entrusted to courts of magistrates functioning under the Sessions Judge. At the village level, disputes are frequently resolved by panchayats or Lok Adalats (people’s courts), appealable to the District and Sessions Court.

Note: The judicial system retains substantial legitimacy in the eyes of many Indians despite its politicization since the 1970s. In fact, as illustrated by the rise of social action litigation in the 1980s and 1990s, many Indians turn to the courts to redress grievances with other social and political institutions. It is frequently observed that Indians are highly litigious, which has contributed to a growing backlog of cases.

Indeed, the Supreme Court was reported to have more than 150,000 cases pending in 1990, the high courts had some 2 million cases pending, and the lower courts had a substantially greater backlog. Research in the early 1990s show that the backlogs at levels below the Supreme Court are the result of delays in the litigation process and the large number of decisions that are appealed, and not the result of an increase in the number of new cases filed.

Type of Government

The Preamble lays down the type of government that India has adopted - sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic.

Sovereign

The word sovereign means supreme or independent. India is internally and externally sovereign - externally free from the control of any foreign power and internally, it has a free government which is directly elected by the people, which makes laws which governs the people.

Socialist

The word socialist was added to the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. It implies social and economic equality. By social equality, we mean that there will be no discrimination on the basis of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, language etc. Everybody will be given equal status and opportunities. By economic equality, we mean that the government will make efforts to reduce the concentration of wealth in a few hands and provide a decent standard of living to all.

India has adopted a mixed pattern of economy and the government has framed many laws to achieve the goal of socialism like Abolition of Untouchability and Zamindari, Equal Wages Act and Child Labour Prohibition Act.

Secular

The word secular was inserted into the Preamble by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. It implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance. India does not have any official state religion. Every person has the right to preach, practise and propagate any religion of their own choice. The government does not favour or discriminate any religion. It treats all religions with equal respect. All citizens, irrespective of their religious beliefs are equal in the eyes of law. No religious instruction is imparted in government or government - aided schools.

Democratic

India is a democratic country. People of India elect their governments at all levels (central, state and local) by a method of universal adult franchise. Every citizen of India, who is 18 years of age and above and who s not otherwise debarred by law, is entitled to vote. Every citizen enjoys this right without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour, sex, religion or education.

Republic

As opposed to a monarchy, in which the head of state is appointed on hereditary basis for a lifetime or till he abdicates from the throne, a republic is a state in which the head of state is elected, directly or indirectly for a fixed tenure. The President of India is elected by an electoral college for a term of five years.

Quasi - Federal Government

India has been called as a Union of States. In spite of having a Federal structure, that is two sets of government, clear division of powers and an independent judiciary, there is a strong bias towards making the Central government more powerful. This is called a Centralized Federation’ or a Quasi - Federal Government, that is partly federal and partly unitary.