Judicial Courts in Kurukshetra, Kurukshetra Judicial Courts

Kurukshetra has been growing fast pace and it is among the emerging industrial cities of Haryana state. After its inception as a separate district, this entire region of Kurukshetra has shown impressive growth. The city is mainly known for its religious tourism. It has more than 350 shrines located here and these places attract hordes of devotees every year. These are the determinants of its development and challenges posed to the administrative machinery in Kurukshetra. As maintenance of law and order is quite crucial to lead the growth of any urban settlement, Kurukshetra also has its well defined system of judiciary to handle criminal and civil cases here.

District and Sessions Judge in Kurukshetra

Court of District and Sessions Judge Kurukshetra

This is the highest court in district Kurukshetra and it functions under Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High court in Chandigarh. This court discharges several judicial functions as required by it from time to time. Its main duties include control on the sub ordinate courts working in this territorial jurisdiction, handling correspondence related to High Court and State Department of Law and Justice. It has to take judicial decisions on all matters as per provisions of legislations governing it. Lok Adalats, legal seminars and conferences are also held in Kurukshetra under supervision of this court.

History of Court of District and Sessions Judge Kurukshetra

In the year 1976, two courts were established in Kurukshetra. They were Sub Judge 1st Class and Judicial Magistrate 1st Class. Subsequently, in 1979, Court of Senior Sub Judge was established and Shri SN Chadhha became the first Senior Sub Judge cum Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kurukshetra.

When court of Chief Judicial Magistrate was set up in August 1979, Shri Surinder Singh became first Chief Judicial Magistrate in Kurukshetra. Finally, in 1983, Kurukshetra was declared to be a separate Sessions Division vide notification no. 231 dated 6th June 1983.

Shri RK Nehru became the first District and Sessions Judge of Kurukshetra in June 1983. At that time, this district court was shifted to a new building as well.

Jurisdiction of Court of District and Sessions Judge Kurukshetra

When Kurukshetra became a Sessions division in 1983, court of District and Sessions Judge was established here. Currently, it has strength as:

One district and Sessions Judge
3 Additional Sessions Judges
1 Civil Judge Senior Division
1 Additional Civil Judge Senior Division
1 Chief Judicial Magistrate
4 Civil Judges Junior Division

Duties and Powers of District and Sessions Judges Kurukshetra

District and Sessions Judge Rules in Kurukshetra

District and Sessions Judge and Additional District and Sessions Judge in Kurukshetra have the powers of appellate authority vested in them under East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act and they also work as Motor Accident Claim Tribunal.

All the Civil Judges exercise their powers for unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction in all matters that are civil in nature. They are also entrusted with criminal matters but excluding those cases that fall exclusively under jurisdiction of Chief Judicial Magistrate or Court of Sessions Judge. They also exercise powers of rent controls in Kurukshetra.

Rules and regulations followed by Court of District and Sessions Judge in Kurukshetra

This court follows all the rules set by government, Honorable High Court, Haryana Civil Services, etc. These include manuals, circulars, notifications, regulations, and government resolutions. The manuals, records, rules, etc. used by this court in discharging its duties are:

The Civil Manual, 1986
The Criminal Manual, 1980
The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
The Punjab Civil Services Rules (As applicable in the State of Haryana)
High Court Rules & Orders Vol I, II, III, IV, V, & VI
The Punjab Financial Rules
The Punjab Treasury Rules
The various Government Resolutions, Circulars, Gazettes, etc issued by state government of Haryana and its Resolutions
Circulars and Notifications as issued by Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana

Other Courts in Kurukshetra

Apart from this Court of District and Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra has some other legal authorities and courts . They are:

District Legal Services Authority - Headed by the Secretary of this Authority in Kurukshetra
Special Environment court - Headed by the Presiding officer of this Court in Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra District Consumer Court