The Subordinate Courts

In one line

Articles 233 to 235 decide who appoints the judges most Indians will ever meet, and the answer, in each case, involves the High Court.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: article 233 provides that appointments of district judges shall be made by the Governor in consultation with the High Court, and that a person not already in the service of the Union or the State is eligible only if he has been an advocate or pleader for not less than seven years and is recommended by the High Court; article 234 provides that appointments of persons other than district judges to the judicial service of a State shall be made by the Governor in accordance with rules made after consultation with the State Public Service Commission and with the High Court; and article 235 vests the control over district courts and courts subordinate thereto, including the posting, promotion and leave of persons in the judicial service holding posts inferior to district judge, in the High Court.

Why this chapter is not a small one

Students skip Chapter VI of Part VI because it looks like administration. It is the chapter that decides, for the courts almost every litigant in India actually uses, who appoints the judge and who controls him, and Module I is one long demonstration of why that question matters. The Collector who was also the judge, the amil who was also the revenue officer, the Provincial Council that was both the party and the appellate court: every one of those is an answer to the same question, and every one of them is what articles 233 to 235 are designed to prevent.

Article 233: district judges

233(1): appointments of persons to be, and the posting and promotion of, district judges in any State shall be made by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to that State.

233(2): a person not already in the service of the Union or of the State shall only be eligible to be appointed a district judge if he has been for not less than seven years an advocate or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment.

So there are two routes to a district judgeship and their conditions differ. A person already in the judicial service is appointed by the Governor in consultation with the High Court. A person from the Bar must have seven years' practice and the High Court's recommendation, which is stronger than consultation.

233A validates certain appointments of, and judgments delivered by, district judges made before it was inserted, and it is the sort of provision a student should recognise but need not learn.