The District Court or Additional District court exercises jurisdiction both on original side and appellate side in civil and criminal matters arising in the District. The territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction in civil matters is usually set in concerned state enactments on the subject of civil courts. On the criminal side, jurisdiction is exclusively derived from the criminal procedure code. As per this code the maximum sentence a district court may award to a convict is capital punishment.
The district court has appellate jurisdiction over all subordinate courts situated in the district on both civil and criminal matters Subordinate courts, on the civil side (in ascending order) are, Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior Civil Judge Court, Senior Civil Judge Court (also called sub-court). Subordinate courts, on the criminal side (in ascending order) are, Seconc Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
Certain matters on criminal side or civil side cannot be tried by a lesser court than a district court. This gives the District Court original jurisdiction in such matters.
Appeals from the district courts lie to the High Court of the concerned state.
