History

Location

The district of Prayagraj(Allahabad) lies between latitude 24°47 and 25°47 North and long 81° and 82°21 East. The length from East to West is 170 Km. and breadth from North to South is 101 Km. The northern boundary of Allahabad is formed with the districts Pratapgarh and Jaunpur, the former being separated from it by river Ganga, at a distance of about 35 km. On the east lies district Varanasi, on the South-East that of Mirzapur, on the South State of Madhya Pradesh, on the South-West, the district of Banda and on the West of that district of Fatehpur situates. The present Kaushambi district was carved out from Allahabad District on 04th April, 1997.

Original name of the district

Mohd. Gori subjugated the kingdom of Kannauj of which Kara was a part. He created the Subah of Kara Manikpur, in which all the territory was covered by the district seems to have been included Kara being made the capital of Subah. During the times of Khilji and Tughlaq, Manikpur was separated and Kara continued to be the capital of Subah of same name. During the time of Akbar, the greater part of present district lay in the sircar of Allahabad and Kara, except the pargana of Bara of Tehsil Karchhana, which is situated in part of Bhatghora or some other hilly territory, now in Madhya Pradesh. When these areas came in British Rule in 1801, Allahabad became the Head Quarters of a district comprising 26 parganas. In 1823, to form district of Fatehpur, leaving 14 parganas and in 1840 only 9 parganas were left.

General Administration

Allahabad was declared a seat of Government of State (then termed as North-Western Province) in 1854, but the capital was shifted to Agra in 1836. It was re-transferred to Allahabad in February, 1858. When Awadh was amalgamated with the province, in 1877, the seat of Chief Executive Authority was transferred from Lucknow to Allahabad. Thus, Allahabad has been the De jure capital of the State for nearly 130 years. Although in 1921, all the important government offices including the secretariat and legislative wings were transferred to Lucknow.

History of Judiciary in Prayagraj(Allahabad)

Judiciary is an important pillar of Administration; As per U. P. District Gazetters, Allahabad 1968:-

“The judicial administration of the East India Company was introduced into the district in 1801 when it was ceded to the British (by the Nawab of vizir of Avadh) and a judge-magistrate was appointed in the district, who sat as judge in the civil court and decided criminal cases as magistrate. He was given an assistant called Register(later termed Registrar to whom cases not exceeding Rs. 200 in valuation could be referred by him (the judge-magistrate) for decision.Some Indian judicial officers such as Sadar amins and munsifs were also appointed to help the judge. By 1827 the munsifs and sadar amins had become empowered to decide cases, the valuation of which did not exceed Rs.150 and Rs.1,000 respectively. A court of appeal and circuit was established in 1803 for the ceded territory with headquarters at Allahabad and appeals against the orders of the judge-magistrate of Allahabad lay to this court. It was under the jurisdiction of the sadar diwani adalat(civil court) and the sadar Nizam at adalat (criminal court) at Fort, William (Calcutta). It was abolished in 1829 and the revenue commissioners were made circuit judges under the supervision of the sadar Nizam at adalat.

In 1831, independent sadar diwani (civil court) and sadar Nizamat adalats (criminal courts) were established in the district and appeals from the judge- magistrate lay to these courts and he was invested with full powers to try sessions cases also and a new post of prinicipal sadar amin was created (to be held by an Indian), the incumbent being empowered to decide cases up to the valuation of Rs.5000, appeals against his decisions lying with the English judges. All the criminal powers of the commissioner, except those relating to the police, were transferred to the judge, a change which made him both civil and sessions judge. In 1843 the sadar diwani and sadar nizamat adalats were transfered to Agra and a general code of justice was enacted and adopted in 1859.

In 1866, the sadar diwani and sadar nizamat adalats were abolished and on March 17, 1866, a separate High Court of judicature was constituted for the North-Western Provinces in accordance with the Indian High Courts Act, 1861. This court sat at Agra from 1866 to 1868 and was shifted to Allahabad in 1869.

In 1909, the magisterial staff sanctioned for the district included a joint magistrate, 16 deputy collectors and a cantonment magistrate. There were 9 tahsildars and a bench of an honorary magistrate in the municipality of Allahabad and some other honorary magistrates. The judicial courts comprised those of the district and sessions judge, the subordinate judge, the judge of the small causes court and the munsif of Allahabad, the last having jurisdiction in the trans-Yamuna and doab tahsils, the original civil suits in the trans-Ganga tract being entrusted to the sub-ordinate Judge.

Established in 1866, the High Court of judicature at Allahabad is the fourth oldest in India. The number of the subordinate courts under its supervision was 1276. In 1869, when the High Court was moved to Allahabad from Agra, the number of lawyers on roll was 6. Now there are 393 subordinate courts spread throughout Uttar Pradesh under the supervision of the High Court and the number of advocates on roll has gone up to 10,546.The number of civil and criminal cases pending before it in 1964 was 46,821 and 6,616 respectively.

The head of the civil and criminal judiciary in the district is the district and sessions judge who has territorial jurisdiction over the whole of the district and is subject to the superintendence of the High Court. He is assisted by 3 temporary civil and sessions judges, a judge of the small causes court, of civil Judge, 2 munsifs and 4 additional munsifs. The district judge has over-all administrative control over the civil judiciary and has appellate jurisdiction in civil cases decided by the munsifs and in cases up to the valuation of Rs.10,000 decided by the civil Judges. He exercises jurisdiction in matrimonial suits under the Indian Divorce Act, 1869, the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the civil Judge, Allahabad, also being invested with powers to try such cases. The district judge exercises jurisdiction in cases under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, the Indian Lunancy Act, 1912 and the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920, his being the principal district court of original jurisdiction for cases under these Acts.

He also exercises jurisdiction under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act,1956 and under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 for the grant of probate and letters of administration as well as the grant of succession certificates. He also hears election petitions relating to the Uttar Pradesh Kshettra Samiti Tatha Zila Parishad Adhiniyam,1961 and, if nominated by the election commission, those relating to the Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad. He tries cases under section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code and cases relating to the Religious Endowments Act, 1863, the Charitable Endowments Act ,1890, and the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. He has appellate jurisdiction in revenue suits in which a question of proprietary title is involved and also hears appeals under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.He is the ex officio district registrar under the Indian Registration Act, 1908. As sessions judge he deals with criminal cases triable by the court of sessions and hears appeals against the judgements and certain orders of all magistrates working under him in the district. He also hears appeals against the judgements of the Assisstant sessions judges involving a Sentence of imprisonment up to 4 years. The temporary civil and sessions judge is also also invested with the same powers as the district and sessions judge in so far as the trial of criminal cases is concerned.

The territorial jurisdiction of the civil judge extends to the whole of the district and his pecuniary jurisdiction is unlimited on the original side. He has powers to try civil cases which exceed the valuation of Rs.5000 and to hear appeals against the orders of the munsifs.

The judge of the small causes court has territorial jurisdiction over the whole of the district and exercises powers similar to those of the civil Judge. His monetary jurisdiction extends to Rs.1,000 in small causes suits and he is also competent to try insolvency cases.

The following civil courts were constituted under the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887: those of the district judge, the additional district judge, the civil Judge and the munsif. Now the civil courts in the district are those of the district judge, the civil and sessions judge, the civil Judge, the judge of the small causes court and of 2 munsifs. The number of civil courts in Allahabad is 16, of which 6 are permanent and 10 temporary. The territorial jurisdiction of the munsif west( Allahabad) extends to the tahsils of Soraon, Phulpur,Handia, Meja and Karchana. There are 4 courts of temporary additional munsifs whose jurisdiction extends over the whole of the district in respect of cases transferred to them from the permanent courts of the 2 munsifs. Original property suits up to a valuation of Rs.5,000 and cases under section 7(c) of the UP(Temporary) Control of Rent and Eviction Act,1947 are tried by the munsifs. The monetary jurisdiction of the civil Judge is unlimited.

The Jurisdiction of the civil courts extends to all suits of a civil nature and their normal case work consists of suits involving property, contracts, inheritance, mortgage, specific relief, etc. in addition to ordinary money suits and suits for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The number of suits pending at the beginning and end of 1964, the number instituted and the number disposed of in the civil court are given in the following statement:

In the year 1964, the number of suits instituted in respect of cases involving immovable property was 881 and that in respect of movable property, 1702. The number of mortgage suits in 1964 was 90 and that of matrimonial suits 18.

The scheme of the separation of judicial and executive functions was introduced in the district in 1960, when an additional district magistrate (judicial) was appointed for doing all the judicial work formerly done by the district magistrate. He also conduct sessions enquiries, tries cases instituted against government servants as well as other important cases under the Indian Penal Code, disposes of transfer applications pertaining to the courts of the judicial officers and honorary magistrates, hears revisions in revenue cases against the orders of the tehsildars and naib- tahsildars and does only judicial work, independentof the district magistrate.Under him, there are 8 judicial officers who try criminal cases under the Indian Penal Code and suits and proceedings under the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950( Act I of 1951) and other Acts.

The juvenile court, Allahabad was established in January, 1963,under the provisions of the U.P. Children Act,1951.It’s main object is to prevent crime and device measures to reform children by giving them a better outlook on life,etc. It also seeks to arrange for their temporary shelter, food and at times suitable employment. The number of offenders brought before the court up to June 30, 1965, was 612, of which the cases of 159 offenders were disposed of; those of 71 were concerned with sending the offenders to approved schools;those of 96 with their release under the supervision of the reformation officer; those of 239 with their release; and those of 47 with their being sent to jail.

Similarly, under U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, Panchayati adalats, which are now called nyaya Panchayats were established in the district in 1949, their function being the entrusting of judicial work to the village people. The jurisdiction of a nyaya Panchayat extends over 5 to 12 villages depending on the population. The number in each tahsil on August 15 of 1949 and 1964 were 307 and 304 respectively.

The nyaya Panchayats are empowered to try criminal cases under the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, Indian Penal Code sections 140, 160, 172, 174, 179, 269, 277, 283, 285, 289, 290, 294, 323, 334, 341, 352, 357, 368, 374, 379( involving an amount up to Rs 50), 403, 411, 426, 428, 430, 431, 447, 448, 504, 506, 509 and 510; and The Cattle Trespass Act, 1861 sections 24 and 26; The U.P. District Biards Primary Education Act, 1926 sub- section (1) of section 10 and The Public Gambling Act, 1867 sections 3,4,7 and 13.

The relevant Appellate courts for civil, revenue and criminal cases are those of the munsif, the subdivisional officer and the subdivisional magistrate respectively.