Use Terms 'District Judiciary' & 'Trial Courts' Instead Of 'Subordinate Judiciary' & 'Subordinate Courts' For Courts In UP: Allahabad HC

Sparsh Upadhyay

18 Jan 2023 12:30 PM GMT

  • Use Terms District Judiciary & Trial Courts Instead Of Subordinate Judiciary & Subordinate Courts For Courts In UP: Allahabad HC

    The Allahabad High Court has issued a notification resolving that the terms 'district judiciary' and 'trial Courts' shall be used instead of 'subordinate judiciary' and 'subordinate Courts', respectively, in reference to all Courts other than the High Court, in the State of Uttar Pradesh.The notification dated 17 January has been issued by the Registrar General of the High Court notifying...

    The Allahabad High Court has issued a notification resolving that the terms 'district judiciary' and 'trial Courts' shall be used instead of 'subordinate judiciary' and 'subordinate Courts', respectively, in reference to all Courts other than the High Court, in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

    The notification dated 17 January has been issued by the Registrar General of the High Court notifying the decision of the full court taken on January 11, 2023. The Allahabad High Court is the third High Court in the country to have passed such a resolution. The complete notification reads thus:

    "The Hon'ble Chief Justice and Hon'ble Judges of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in the Full Court meeting held on 11.01.2023, resolved that "the terms "district judiciary" and "trial Courts" shall be used instead of "subordinate judiciary" and "subordinate Courts", respectively, in reference to all Courts other than the High Court, in the State of Uttar Pradesh." Therefore, all concerned are hereby informed, accordingly."

    Last month, the High Court of Madhya Pradesh passed a notification whereby all the courts in the State other than the High Court shall now be referred to as "District Judiciary" and not "Subordinate Judiciary".

    Earlier the Himachal Pradesh High Court had passed a resolution to replace the word Subordinate Courts with District Courts. Under the aegis of the then Acting Chief Justice, Justice Ravi Malimath, Himachal Pradesh High Court passed a resolution on 02.08.2021, thereby replacing the terms "Subordinate Judiciary" with "District Judiciary" and the term "Subordinate Court" with "Trial Court"

    It is notable that CJI Chandrachud had mentioned during a program recently that we should not call our district judiciary as subordinate judiciary.

    Speaking at a felicitation function organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association, CJI Chandrachud had said: "I think we have fostered a culture of subordination. We call our district judiciary a subordinate judiciary. I express disagreement to address district judges as subordinate judges. I make a conscious effort not to address them because they are not subordinates, they belong to the district judiciary."

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