vernor General of India in Council, shall from time to time direct.
22. Appointment of Subordinate Judges.—The Judges of such subordinate Courts shall be
appointed by the Governor of Bombay in Council, and shall be called Subordinate Judges.
No person shall be appointed a Subordinate Judge unless he be a subject of the Queen who has
practised five years as an Advocate of a High Court in India or as a Vakil in the High Court of Judicature
in Bombay, or who has qualified for the duties of a Subordinate Judge according to such tests as may for
the time being be prescribed by such High Court, or who has taken the degree of Bachelor of Laws in the
University of Bombay.
The tests so prescribed by the High Court shall be notified in the Government Gazette.
1
[22A. Power to fix local limits of jurisdiction of Subordinate Judges.—The Governor of Bombay
in Council may, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix, and, by a like notification, from time to time
alter, the local limits of the ordinary jurisdiction of the Subordinate Judges.]
23. Situation of Subordinate Courts.—The Subordinate Judges shall hold their Courts at such place
or places as the Governor of Bombay in Council may from time to time appoint, within the local limits of
their respective jurisdictions. Wherever more than one such place is appointed, the District Judge shall,
subject to the control of the High Court, fix the days on which the Subordinate Judge shall hold his Court
at each of such places, and the Subordinate Judge shall cause such days to be duly notified throughout the
local limits of his jurisdiction.
The same person may be the Judge of more than one Subordinate Court; and in such cases the District
Judge shall, subject to the control of the High Court, prescribe rules for regulating the time during which
the Subordinate Judge shall sit in each Court.
The Judge of any Subordinate Court may, with the previous sanction of the High Court, be deputed
by the District Judge to the Court of another Subordinate Judge for the purpose of assisting him in the
disposal of the suits on his file.
1. Ins. by Act 9 of 1880, s. 2 (w.e.f. 30-4-1880).
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24. Classes of Subordinate Judges.—The Subordinate Judges shall be of two classes.
Jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class.—The jurisdiction of a Subordinate Judge of the
first class extends to all original suits and proceedings of a civil nature.
Jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of second class.—The jurisdiction of a Subordinate Judge of the
second class extends to all original suits and proceedings of a civil nature wherein the subject-matter does
not exceed in amount or value five thousand rupees.
25. Special jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class.—A Subordinate Judge of the first
class, in addition to his ordinary jurisdiction, shall exercise a special jurisdiction in respect of such suits
and proceedings of a civil nature wherein the subject-matter exceeds five thousand rupees in amount or
value as may arise within the local jurisdictions of the Courts in the District presided over by Subordinate
Judges of the second class.
In Districts to which more than one Subordinate Judge of the first class have been appointed, the
District Judge, subject to the orders of the High Court, shall assign to each the local limits within which
his said special jurisdiction is to be exercised.
26. Appeals from his decision.—In all suits decided by a Subordinate Judge 1*** of which the
amount or value of the subject-matter exceeds five thousand rupees, the appeal from his decision shall be
direct to the High Court.
27. Appellate jurisdiction of Subordinate Judge of first class.—The Governor of Bombay in
Council may invest any Subordinate Judge of the first class with power to hear appeals from such decrees
and orders of Subordinate Courts as may be referred to him by the Judge of the District.
Decrees and orders so passed in appeal by a Subordinate Judge of the first class shall have the same
force as if passed by a District Judge.
The Governor of Bombay in Council may, whenever he thinks fit, withdraw such jurisdiction from
any Subordinate Judge so invested.
28. Power to invest Subordinate Judges with small cause powers.—The Governor of Bombay in
Council may invest, within such local limits as he shall from time to time appoint, any Subordinate Judge
of the first class with the jurisdiction of a Judge of a Court of Small Causes, for the trial of suits
cognizable by such Courts up to the amount of five hundred rupees, and any Subordinate Judge of the
second class with the same jurisdiction up to the amount of fifty rupees.
The Governor of Bombay in Council may, whenever he thinks fit, withdraw such jurisdiction from
any Subordinate Judge so invested.
29. Seal of Subordinate Judge.—Each Subordinate Judge shall use a seal one inch and a half in
diameter, bearing the Royal Crown with the following inscription in English and the principal language of
the District—“Subordinate Judge of .”
30. [First Subordinate Judges of first class].—Rep. by the Obsolete Enactments Act, 1876
(12 of 1876), s. 1 and Schedule, Part I (w.e.f. 11-4-1876).
31. [Pending proceedings].—Rep. by s. 1 and Schedule, Part I, ibid. (w.e.f. 11-4-1876).
32. Reference of Government suits.—2
[No Subordinate Judge or Court of Small Causes shall
receive or register a suit in which the Government or any officer of Government in his official capacity is
a party, but in every such case such Judge or Court shall refer the plaintiff to the District Judge, in whose
Court alone (subject to the provisions of section nineteen) such suit shall be instituted.]
1. The words “of the first class in the exercise of his ordinary and special original jurisdiction” omitted by Act 28 of 1930,
s. 2 (w.e.f. 25-7-1930).
2. Subs. by Act 10 of 1876, s. 15, for certain words (w.e.f. 28-3-1876).
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1
[Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to apply to any suit merely because—
(a) a municipal corporation constituted under Bombay Act No. VI of 1873, or any other
enactment for the time being in force, is a party to such suit and an officer of Government is in his
official capacity a member of such corporation, or
(b) an officer of a Court appointed under the Code of Civil Procedure, section 456, last paragraph,
2*** a party to such suit.]
Removal or suspension.
33. Commission of enquiry into alleged misconduct.—Whenever the High Court is of opinion that
there are good grounds for making a formal and public enquiry into the truth of any imputation of
misconduct by any Subordinate Judge, the High Court may appoint a Commissioner or Commissioners
for the purpose of holding such an enquiry, and on the receipt of his or their report may order that the
Subordinate Judge be removed or suspended from office, or reduced to a lower class.
The provisions of Act No. XXXVII of 1850 (for regulating enquiries into the behaviour of public
servants) shall apply to enquiries under this section, the powers conferred by that Act on the Government
being exercised by the High Court.
34. Suspension of Subordinate Judges by High Court or District Judge.—The High Court may
suspend any Subordinate Judge from office pending the result of an enquiry into his behaviour under this
section.
Any District Judge may, whenever he sees urgent necessity for so doing, suspend from office any
Subordinate Judge under his control. But whenever the District Judge suspends any such Subordinate
Judge, he shall forthwith report the case for the orders of the High Court.
Saving of power of Government to suspend or dismiss.—Nothing in this section or in section
thirty-three shall be held to interfere with the right of Government to suspend, or remove from office, any Subordinate Judge at their discretion.