INTEGRATED JUDICIARY

TOPIC: Polity

Context- Need to strengthen the federal nature of our judiciary by empowering High Courts.

Concept-

Integrated Judiciary:

Indian Constitution has established an independent and integrated judiciary to protect the supremacy of the Constitution.
B.R. Ambedkar stated in the Constituent Assembly: “The Indian Federation though a dual polity has no dual judiciary at all. The High Courts and the Supreme Court form one single integrated judiciary having jurisdiction and providing remedies in all cases arising under the constitutional law, the civil law or the criminal law.”
Integrated judiciary refers to the integrated structure of Indian judiciary with the Supreme Court at the top and the state high courts below it.
The Indian Constitution envisaged the equality of power of High Court judges and Supreme Court judges, with a High Court judge not being a subordinate of a Supreme Court judge.
This ensures a single system of courts enforcing both the Central as well as the state laws. In USA, we have a double system of courts wherein federal courts enforce federal laws and state judiciary enforces state laws.
Constitution ensures integrated judiciary by placing SC at the top, while High Courts, subordinate courts and district courts work below it.
It is a unitary feature of the Constitution.