INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anuradha Mukherjee, Omar Ahmad, Vikram Shah and Soumya Dasgupta, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas Peninsula Chambers
Peninsula Corporate Park G. K. Marg, Lower Parel (w) Mumbai 400013 India Tel: +91 22 2496 4455 Fax: +91 22 2496 3666 Web: www.cyrilshroff.com
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System The Indian legal system traces its origins to the Eng- lish common law system, and is based on codified law and law developed through judicial precedent. Pro- ceedings in Indian courts are adversarial. The process before the court is conducted through both written submissions and oral arguments. 1.2 Court System India’s court system has a Supreme Court, High Courts of various states, and district courts that come under the supervisory jurisdiction of the relevant High Courts. There are 25 High Courts in India exercising jurisdic- tion over 28 states and eight union territories. Constitutional Courts The Constitution of India provides for two sets of con- stitutional courts: the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. Both exercise “writ jurisdiction”, which is an extraordinary power in the hands of constitution- al courts to undertake judicial review of state action and enforce the fundamental rights of persons. The Supreme Court also has powers to entertain appeals from any High Court exercising its writ jurisdiction. Appellate Jurisdiction Both the Supreme Court and the High Courts also have appellate jurisdiction. The Supreme Court can entertain appeals from various statutory tribunals as provided under the relevant legislation, and also has
special powers to entertain an appeal against any decision/judgment/order of any court or tribunal in India. The High Courts exercise appellate jurisdiction in vari- ous kinds of “civil” and “criminal” claims, while certain High Courts also exercise “original” jurisdiction – ie, in certain instances, the High Court can be the first court for certain claims of a specific monetary value. Subject Matter Jurisdiction India’s system of courts can be broadly classified as “civil” and “criminal” courts, with certain courts such as family courts and small cause courts being con- cerned with specific classes of subject matter. Civil courts in India are governed by the procedure set out in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC). Since 1 July 2024, criminal courts are governed by the procedure set out in the Bharatiya Nagarik Surak- sha Sanhita, 2023. All earlier cases continue to be governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. With the enactment of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 (CCA), India has an established class of “Com- mercial Courts” that concern themselves with a spe- cific set of identified claims. Tribunals In addition, various tribunals have been constituted by Acts of Parliament to undertake the adjudication of cases dealing with specific subject matters, including the National Company Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal for matters concern-
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