District Court and Sessions Court of West Bengal | WBCS Preparation: All Subjects - WBCS (West Bengal) PDF Download

District Court and Sessions Courts are the highest courts of each district. District courts are primarily civil courts to hear generally the appeals from the courts of original Civil Jurisdiction in the districts. It can also entertain original matters where a matter can be directly filed before it. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal and is declared as Metropolitan city. In Kolkata criminal cases are tried by the Metropolitan Magistrates and civil suits are adjudicated by the city civil courts. Outside Kolkata, criminal cases are tried by Chief Judicial Magistrate. Generally in every district considering the total number of cases, population, District courts are established. It administers justice in at district level. District Courts of West Bengal are under the administrative control of the Calcutta High Court. The decisions of District Court of West Bengal are subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court.
District Judge presides over district court and is appointed by the State Government. The District Court has an appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts under it within the state of West Bengal both in civil and criminal matters. 

Other Lower Courts 

Subordinate Courts in a district, on the civil side (in ascending order) are, Junior Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Court (previously known as sub-court). Subordinate Courts, on the criminal side (in ascending order) are, Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court etc. 

Labour Courts 
Labour Courts are established in many district of West Bengal. Under the Industrial Dispute Act of 1947, the Labour Courts and the Industrial Tribunal are set up in the state. It has an original jurisdiction under the provisions of many Labour Laws and enactments. It has also got the power to enforce various rules framed under Labour Acts and enactments. These courts provide speedy justice to the issues of suspension of labours from work, legal dimensions of strike, welfare of labours, fixing of wages, duration of duty and other collective problems of labours. These courts fall under the strict supervision of the High Court of Calcutta.
The Labour Court is presided by a officer who has served one of the judicial officer for a minimum term of seven years or has been a presiding officer in one of the Labour Court under the State Act for a minimum of five years. In addition to this, the presiding officer should have been a District Judge or Additional District Judge for a continuous period of three years or a judge of the High Court. Appeal and revision from the judgements and orders of the subordinate original Labour Courts can be filed in City Civil and Session Courts. Apart from these courts there are different Tribunals, viz., Motor Accident-claim Tribunals, Revenue Tribunals, Administrative Tribunals and Debt Recovery Tribunals to dissolve related litigations. 

Court Information System 
Recent advancement of Information and Communication Technology has changed the scenario of legal information system. Indian Courts with the help of National Informatics Centre have taken initiatives for digital access of legal information without adequate information support, legal professionals find it very difficult to proceed effectively in fighting varied cases for getting desired results. The picture is not different in West Bengal. For collection and organisation of legal information, special orientation and training is must. But in West Bengal there is no scope of such specialised training. Indian Judiciary is now over burdened with pending cases. For speedy dispensation of justice, the increase in number of courts and judges is not only important, but easy and speedy access to legal information is also equally important.