NCERT Solutions Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 the Role of the Judiciary in Our Society

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 8 · SOCIAL SCIENCE

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 11: The Role of the
Judiciary in Our Society

NCERT Textbook — Exploring Society: India And Beyond

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

Part II, 125 – 142 6 13 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 26 pages

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 8 · SOCIAL SCIENCE · EXPLORING SOCIETY: INDIA AND BEYOND

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 11: The Role of the
Judiciary in Our Society
The Preamble promises every Indian citizen social, economic and political justice — this chapter shows the
institution that has to deliver it. You meet the two faces of justice (substantive and procedural), the reason a
law can itself be unjust, the ladder of courts from the District Court to the Supreme Court, the writ and PIL
routes that let an ordinary citizen reach the highest court, and the alternate ways — arbitration, mediation,
Lok Adalat, Gram Nyayalaya — of settling a dispute without a full trial.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Class 8) Part II, 125 – 142

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

6 13

MEDIUM

English

The Big Questions — Page 125
Chapter opener

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Q1 What is the concept of justice?

ANSWER

Justice is the assurance that every person is treated fairly and gets what is due to them under
the law. The Preamble to the Constitution of India promises all Indian citizens social, economic,
and political justice, and the founders of independent India laid the foundation for a sound
judicial system in a democratic society to deliver on that promise.
The chapter builds the idea in three steps.

1. Justice is what makes shared life possible. It ensures that individuals in a society can live
with equality and dignity. Without it, a disagreement has no fair ending and society cannot
stay peaceful.
2. Government pursues justice through law. As societies grew larger and more complex, the
task of ensuring fair treatment was handed over to the government. Governments were
given the power to administer society through laws and to enforce them, with force if
needed. Laws are general rules that regulate people’s activities and impose consequences —
a fine, compensation to the affected party, or even imprisonment — for not following them.

Page 1 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

3. Law and justice are not the same thing. A law can itself be unjust, and then justice
becomes the standard by which we judge the law. That is why, after independence, hundreds
of colonial-era laws were found to be discriminatory and contrary to the fundamental
principles of a democratic polity, and over 1500 such laws have been repealed.

The chapter names two of them: the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, which labelled certain
communities as criminals by birth, and the Vernacular Press Act, 1878, which restricted
freedom of the press. It also points outside India — the ‘Jim Crow laws’ in parts of the United
States barred African Americans and other people of colour from water fountains, public pools
and restaurants reserved for white people, and were officially repealed in the 1960s; the
apartheid laws of South Africa divided people by law on the basis of race and were repealed in
1991.
Finally, justice itself has two faces, and a decision is properly just only when both are satisfied.

ASPECT WHAT IT ASKS WHAT IT PROTECTS

Substantive Is the final result or outcome The person who was wronged — that the
justice actually fair, just and reasonable? decision genuinely sets things right

Procedural Did every person involved get a full The person accused — that no one is
justice opportunity of hearing before the condemned unheard. As a rule, every person is
court decided? presumed innocent till proved guilty.

Why both are needed: a fair-looking outcome reached without hearing the other
side is not justice, because the court may simply not know the facts. And a perfectly
conducted hearing that ends in an unreasonable order is not justice either. The
chapter’s own opening exercise shows why: the person wronged wants punishment,
an apology or compensation — that is substantive justice; the person accused wants
a chance to explain what happened — that is procedural justice. The judiciary exists
to give both sides their due at the same time.

Q2 Why is it important for a just and harmonious Society?

ANSWER

Because a society without justice cannot stay at peace. Justice is essential for maintaining
peace and harmony in any society — it is what allows individuals to live with equality and
dignity, and it is the reason people are willing to settle a quarrel through an institution instead
of through force.
The chapter gives four connected reasons.

Page 2 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Disputes are unavoidable. Society has many complex interactions happening all the time,
both personal and professional, so disagreements and disputes arise from diverse contexts
and situations. A society needs a settled, trustworthy way of ending them — through
dialogue, mediation, or adjudication by courts of law.
Everyone must be able to complain, and to be heard. The judicial system is exactly the
system that enables individuals to complain in case of a grievance, and lets the affected
person place their point of view so that justice is ensured within the framework of the law
and the Constitution. That is what stops the stronger party from simply winning.
Justice restrains the government itself. An independent judiciary ensures that the laws
passed by the legislature stay within the framework of the Constitution, and that the
executive does not overstep its role as outlined in the Constitution. In a democracy this is not
a small matter — it is how a citizen’s Fundamental Rights are kept real rather than merely
written down.
Injustice spreads. The chapter opens with Dr Martin Luther King Jr.’s line, “Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice everywhere.” Unjust laws — Jim Crow in the United States, apartheid in
South Africa — did not only harm the people directly targeted; they prevented citizens from
gaining access to public facilities and from living a life with dignity, and they made the whole
society unequal.

The chapter’s own examples show what happens when justice is delivered:

CASE THE INJUSTICE WHAT THE COURT DID

Mrs Kapila Prisoners undergoing trial had The Supreme Court immediately ordered their
Hingorani’s been in jail longer than the release and issued guidelines to release almost
petition punishment they would have 40,000 under-trial prisoners throughout India
received even if found guilty

M.C. Mehta v. Environmental damage The Supreme Court took up the cleaning of the
Union of India River Ganga and the protection of the Taj
Mahal

Vishaka & Ors. Sexual harassment at the The Supreme Court laid down guidelines in
v. State of workplace 1997; later, in 2013, the Government enacted
Rajasthan the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013

Notice the pattern: in each case one person or group brought a wrong to the
court’s notice, and the remedy reached far beyond them — 40,000 prisoners, a river,
a national monument, and eventually a law for every workplace in the country. That
is why the chapter ends by saying citizens have a role in helping the judicial system
by bringing to its notice social concerns that affect the rights of people, animals and
nature.

Page 3 of 26

as e
a g l
Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
What is the structure and role of the judiciary in India?
e
Q3

m l as
.co a g
ANSWER
a s em
l judicial system is a unified system — a single hierarchy of courts running from the
ThegIndian
a
district up to the national level, with the Supreme Court of India at the apex, the High Courts at

co m
ag
the State level and Subordinate Courts at the District level.

m .
as e
a
COURTS IN INDIA g l

co m
Apex — New Delhi (Article 124)

m.
In existence since 26.01.1950.

e
Final interpreter of the Constitution.

m l as
Strength 33+1: the Chief Justice of India

.co g
Supreme Court

a
and 33 judges; they retire at 65.

a s em State level (Article 214)

ag l High Courts
25 High Courts for 28 States, as some
States and UTs share one. Writ power
(226) + superintendence (227). Judges

s
retire at 62.

om a
em
. c agl
District level (Articles 233–237)

s
District, Sessions, Revenue and Small

a
Subordinate (District) Courts

agl
Causes Courts — where the judiciary
comes in close contact with the people.

m
Appeals travel upward; the law declared at the top binds every court below (Article 141).

. co
e m
m l as
.co g
The hierarchy of courts in India, following Fig. 4.5 of the chapter, with the constitutional Article that

m a
ase
creates each level.

agl The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of law in the country. It came into existence on
se m
o m
the day the Constitution came into effect, 26.01.1950. Article 124 provides for its establishment
l a
m .c is designated the Chief Justice of India. Judges ag
e to be appointed a person must be a citizen of India and
and it is seated in New Delhi. Its Chief Justice
are appointed by the President ofsIndia;
l a
gJudge of a High Court (or High Courts) for five years, or an
additionally must have beenaa
Advocate of a High Court (or more than one High Court) for ten years, or a distinguished jurist

co m
.
in the opinion of the President.

em
m as
Its powers are grouped by the kind of case it can take up:

.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 4 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

JURISDICTION ARTICLE WHAT THE SUPREME COURT CAN DO

Writ 32 Enforce Fundamental Rights where the issue has an all-India
ramification

Original 131 Decide disputes between the Centre and a State; between the
(exclusive) Centre and a State on one side and another State on the other; and
inter-State disputes such as river water disputes

Appellate 132, 133, Hear an appeal from a final order of a High Court where the High
134, 134A Court certifies that the case involves interpretation of the
Constitution or a substantial question of law; hear criminal appeals
involving a death sentence or certified fit for appeal; and hear
appeals from specialised tribunals such as the NGT and the NCLAT

Advisory 143 Give the President its opinion on a question of law or fact of public
importance — heard by a Constitution Bench of not less than five
judges

Special Leave 136 An extraordinary discretionary power to grant leave to appeal from
any judgment, decree or order of any court or tribunal in India
where a question of law of general public importance arises, or to
do substantive justice between the parties

Complete justice 142 Pass any order necessary for doing complete justice. All civil and
judicial authorities shall act in aid of the Supreme Court (Article 144),
and the law it declares binds all courts in India (Article 141)

The High Courts are the highest courts at the State level. Article 214 provides for a High Court
in each State; India has 28 States but 25 High Courts, because in some cases two or more
States or Union Territories share a common High Court — the Bombay High Court, for instance,
covers Maharashtra, Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. A
High Court has a Chief Justice and other judges, the number varying from State to State; they
are appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of
the State and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. Under Article 217(2) a judge must
be a citizen of India and must have held a judicial office in India or been an advocate of a High
Court (or more than one) for ten years. Each High Court exercises writ jurisdiction (Article 226),
hears appeals from subordinate courts in civil and criminal matters and from certain tribunals,
and has the power of superintendence over all courts and tribunals in its territory (Article 227)
— a supervisory power, to be exercised sparingly, that keeps subordinate courts acting within
their authority.
Subordinate Courts sit below the High Courts in each State — District Courts, Sessions Courts,
Revenue Courts, Small Causes Courts and others. Articles 233 to 237 regulate how they are
organised and secure their independence; District Judges are appointed by the Governor of the
State in consultation with the High Court. Alongside the courts stand specialised tribunals,
which are quasi-judicial and decide particular categories of dispute — the NCLT (corporate,

Page 5 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

insolvency and bankruptcy), the National Green Tribunal (environmental issues), Consumer Fora
(consumer disputes), the Central Administrative Tribunal (service matters of government
employees), the Armed Forces Tribunal, and APTEL (electricity disputes).

Why the structure is shaped this way: the pyramid does two jobs at once. Its wide
base brings a court within reach of ordinary people — the chapter calls the
subordinate judiciary a very important segment precisely because it is there that the
judiciary comes in close contact with the people. Its narrow top gives the country
one final answer on what the Constitution means, so that the same law does not
mean different things in different States. The appeal route joins the two, and Article
141 makes the top’s ruling binding all the way down.

The role, in one line: the judiciary ensures fair adjudication of disputes in
accordance with the law, checks that the laws passed by the legislature are within
the framework of the Constitution, and sees that the executive does not overstep the
role the Constitution gives it — which is why it must remain independent of the
other two organs.

Q4 What are the alternative modes of dispute resolution?

ANSWER

They are ways of settling a dispute without a full court trial. Courts increasingly encourage
litigants to use them, both to strengthen dispute resolution and to reduce the burden on the
judiciary — the chapter lists arbitration, mediation/conciliation, negotiation, Lok Adalat
and, alongside them, Gram Nyayalayas.

Alternate modes — settled outside a full trial

Mediation / Gram
Negotiation Arbitration Lok Adalat
Conciliation Nyayalaya

A mediator only helps the parties agree and cannot impose a decision;
an arbitrator’s award is final, binding and enforceable by a court of law.

A dispute
arises

Adjudication by courts of law

District Court High Court Supreme Court

The formal route: pleadings, evidence, hearing of both sides, judgment, appeal.

Page 6 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Two routes out of the same dispute. Lok Adalats can also take up cases already pending in the courts,
so the two routes are not sealed off from each other.

MODE HOW IT WORKS WHO DECIDES LAW IT
RUNS
UNDER

Arbitration The parties agree to refer their dispute to an The arbitrator. The Arbitration
independent adjudicator or panel — an decision is final and and
arbitrator or panel of arbitrators, who may legally binding on the Conciliation
be a retired judge, a lawyer or an expert. The parties and Act, 1996
arbitrator must act fairly and impartially and enforceable by a
let each party put forth its case. court of law.

Mediation / The most common form of alternate dispute The parties The Mediation
conciliation resolution. A neutral person is appointed as themselves. A Act, 2023
Mediator and assists the disputing parties in mediator has no
arriving at a mutual settlement. power to make a
decision or impose a
view.

Negotiation The parties talk directly and try to settle the The parties —
matter between themselves. themselves

Lok Adalat Special fora where disputes and cases can be Settlement between Legal Services
settled or resolved amicably. They can the parties, recorded Authorities
resolve disputes already pending in the by the Lok Adalat Act, 1987
courts, and in some cases parties can
approach them even before going to court.
They function as people’s courts, reducing
judicial backlog without the rigours of formal
adjudication.

Gram Mobile, village-level courts that decentralise The Gram Nyayalaya Gram
Nyayalaya the judicial system and reduce the burden on Nyayalayas
regular courts, following a simplified Act, 2008
procedure with no technicalities.

Why these modes are encouraged: not every dispute needs the full machinery of a
trial. A quarrel between neighbours, a delayed flat, an unpaid bill — these can often
be ended faster, more cheaply and with less bitterness if the parties settle it
themselves with help. Two gains follow. First, access: a Gram Nyayalaya that travels
to a village or a Lok Adalat that sits nearby reaches people who could never afford a
long case far away. Second, capacity: every dispute settled outside is one the courts
need not hear, which frees judges for the cases that genuinely need a judgment.

Page 7 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Read the difference carefully: a mediator cannot decide anything — the
settlement is the parties’ own. An arbitrator does decide, and that award binds the
parties just as a court order would. That single distinction is the most commonly
asked point from this section.

LET’S EXPLORE — Page 127
Chapter opener, before ‘The Connection Between Law and Justice’

LET’S EXPLORE

Q1 Think of a time when you felt that someone had not been fair to you. How did you
feel? What did you think needed to be done to make the situation right? Who could
have made things right? What would you do in such a situation? Share in small
groups.

ANSWER

This is a personal reflection, so your own incident is the right material. What matters is how you
analyse it — the chapter comes back to this exercise on page 129 to explain substantive and
procedural justice, so answer it in a way that sets that up.
What a good answer must contain — answer the four parts in order:

1. The incident, told plainly in two or three sentences: what happened, who was involved, and
what exactly was unfair about it.
2. How you felt — name the feeling honestly (angry, humiliated, helpless, not believed). Notice
whether the worst part was the loss itself or the fact that nobody heard your side.
3. What would make it right — the chapter offers three possibilities: the wrong-doer should
be punished, they should apologise, or you should be compensated in some way. Say which
one you wanted, and why.
4. Who could have set it right — a teacher, a parent, the class monitor, an elder, or an
authority outside the school. This is the point of the exercise: someone neutral, who is not
one of the two sides, has to decide. In a society, that neutral someone is the court.

Sample answer:
Two weeks ago our class was told that someone had broken a window in the science lab. A
classmate said he had seen me near the lab that afternoon, and our teacher asked my parents
to pay for the glass. I had been at cricket practice at that time and had not gone near the lab at
all. I felt angry, but mostly I felt helpless — I was not asked a single question before the decision
was made, so I never got the chance to say where I had been.
To make it right, I did not want my classmate punished; I wanted the decision reversed and my
name cleared, and I wanted the real cause found out. The person who could have set it right
was our class teacher, because she was not one of the two sides and could listen to both of us.

Page 8 of 26

as e
a g l
Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

When I asked her for five minutes and explained, she checked with the cricket coach and
co m
withdrew the demand.
e m.
m l as
.co a g
s em
What this exercise is teaching: two different things went wrong. The outcome was
a
gl — I was made to pay for something I had not done. That is a failure of
awrong
substantive justice. And the process was wrong — the decision was taken before I

co m
ag
was heard. That is a failure of procedural justice. A court has to get both right,

m .
e
which is exactly why the rule is that every person is presumed innocent till proved
as
a g l
guilty: the burden lies on the person making the accusation, not on the person
accused.

. c om
s
For the group discussion: after each person shares, sort the incidents
m a em into two lists
.
— those l heard. Most
cowhere the result was unfair, and those where nobodyagwas
a s em find that the second list is longer, and that is the more useful discovery.
gl
groups
a
m a s
m .co agl
se
DON’T MISS OUT — Page 130
g l a
a
The Supreme Court of India

DON’T MISS OUT

co m
m .
o m l a se
This is the logo of the Supreme Court of India. What are the elements familiar to

ag — ‘Where there is
.cyou? Notice the Sanskrit motto, ‘yato dharmastato jayah’
Q1

se m dharma, there is victory.’ (You might recall this motto from your Grade 6 textbook.)
g l a
a
se m
m will find that almost every element is one you a
ANSWER

. coyou a g l
m the national symbols of India.
Look at the logo printed on page 130 and

a s efrom
agl
have already met — it is assembled

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

com
m .
m ase
.co


a g l Page 9 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

ELEMENT IN WHERE YOU ALREADY KNOW IT WHAT IT STANDS FOR HERE
THE LOGO FROM

The 24-spoked The Ashoka Chakra — the wheel at The wheel of dharma, of law in motion —
wheel at the top the centre of the national flag, the the idea that law must keep turning and
dharmachakra applying to everyone

The lion capital The State Emblem of India, adapted The authority of the Indian State, of
below the wheel from the Lion Capital of Sarnath which this Court is one organ

The scroll under Devanagari script — ॥ यतो धम स्ततो जयः ‘Where there is dharma, there is victory’
the emblem ॥, ‘yato dharmastato jayah’ — the Court’s motto

The words around Roman script — SUPREME COURT OF Names the institution
the base INDIA

You would have met the motto yato dharmastato jayah in your Grade 6 textbook. It is worth
pausing on what the Court is claiming by choosing it. The line does not say that whoever wins is
right. It says the opposite — that victory belongs to the side that has dharma, that is, right
conduct and duty, on it. Put on a courtroom, this becomes a promise: the Court is not there to
help the more powerful party or the better-connected one, but to find where dharma lies and
let that side win.

Why the elements fit together: the emblem says this is the authority of the State; the
chakra says that authority runs through law, not through will; and the motto says the
point of the law is dharma, not power. Read from top to bottom, the logo is a
compressed statement of exactly what the chapter says the judiciary is for.

Try this: compare the Supreme Court’s motto with the national motto Satyameva
Jayate — ‘Truth alone triumphs’ — printed under the State Emblem. Both put the
claim of truth and dharma above the claim of strength. Ask your teacher to show
you the emblem of your own State’s High Court and see which elements it shares.

LET’S EXPLORE — Page 135

Page 10 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

High Court

LET’S EXPLORE

Q1 Several High Courts mentioned in the table have more than one bench. Explore
which High Courts have more than one bench with the help of your teachers.

ANSWER

Start by being clear what a bench means here. Every High Court has a principal seat — the
main city where it sits. Some High Courts also sit permanently at one or more other places; each
such additional sitting place is called a bench. A person living in that region can file and argue
the case at the bench instead of travelling to the principal seat.
How to find the answer — the method:

1. Shortlist from the chapter’s own table (pages 134–135). Two clues in the table point to a
likely bench:

the High Court covers more than one State or Union Territory — for example Bombay
(Maharashtra, Goa, and the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu), Gauhati
(Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh), Calcutta (West Bengal and the UT of
Andaman & Nicobar Islands), Kerala (Kerala and the UT of Lakshadweep), Madras (Tamil
Nadu and the UT of Puducherry), Punjab & Haryana (Punjab, Haryana and the UT of
Chandigarh), and Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh;
the High Court covers a single but very large State, where a citizen at the far end would
otherwise have to cross the whole State — for example Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh),
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka.

These are candidates to check, not yet answers.
2. Verify each one. Open the official website of that High Court — every High Court has one,
and the chapter notes on page 138 that details of cases are available on the website of each
court. The home page or the ‘About Us’ / ‘Jurisdiction’ page states the principal seat and any
benches. Your school library’s general knowledge yearbook and your teacher can confirm
the same.
3. Record it in a table with three columns: High Court · Principal seat · Bench or benches. Add a
fourth column, Why a bench was needed there, and fill it from the two clues above.
4. Mark them on an outline map of India. Put a filled dot for each principal seat and a hollow
dot for each bench, then join each bench to its principal seat with a line. The map makes the
pattern obvious at a glance.

Page 11 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why benches exist at all: the chapter says the subordinate judiciary matters
because it is there that the judiciary comes in close contact with the people. A bench
extends the same logic upward. A High Court’s power runs over the whole of its
territory, but a court is useless to someone who cannot afford to reach it. Creating a
bench does not create a second High Court — it is the same High Court sitting at
another place, so a litigant a thousand kilometres from the capital gets the same
court without the journey.

Check it yourself: find out first whether your own High Court has a bench, and if it
does, which districts are attached to it. Then work out which sitting place your
district falls under. That single fact tells you where a case from your town would
actually be heard.

LET’S EXPLORE — Page 136
Subordinate Courts

LET’S EXPLORE

Q1 Which Subordinate Court is closest to where you live?

ANSWER

Every district in India has a court complex, so there is one near you. The chapter tells you what
to look for: subordinate courts broadly include District Courts, Sessions Courts, Revenue
Courts, Small Causes Courts and others, and the District Judge is appointed by the Governor of
the State in consultation with the High Court.
How to find yours:

Name your district first. The District Court is almost always in the district headquarters
town, in a building usually called the District Court Complex or Kachahri.
Check whether there is a court still closer than the district headquarters — many tehsils and
blocks have a Civil Judge’s court or a Judicial Magistrate’s court, and some areas have a
Gram Nyayalaya, the mobile village-level court set up under the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008.
Confirm it from the district court’s own website. Page 138 of the chapter notes that details of
cases are available on the website of each court and through the National Judicial Data
Grid of India, so the site will also tell you the name of the District Judge and the courts
working in the complex.
Ask an adult at home whether they have ever visited it, and for what — a property
registration matter, a land record, a licence, an affidavit. You will find that a court complex
handles far more everyday work than dramatic trials.

Page 12 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Sample answer:
The subordinate court nearest my home is the District and Sessions Court, Nashik, in the
district headquarters, about seven kilometres from my locality. The same complex houses the
District Judge’s court, the Sessions Court which hears serious criminal cases, and the courts of
the Civil Judge (Junior Division) and the Judicial Magistrate First Class. There is also a Civil Judge’s
court at our tehsil town, which is nearer still, and a Lok Adalat is held in the district complex on
notified dates to settle cases amicably. Above all of these is the Bombay High Court, which the
chapter’s table (page 134) shows covers Maharashtra, Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra &
Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
(Replace the names with your own district, tehsil and High Court, taken from the table on pages 134–
135.)

Why the chapter asks this: it calls the subordinate judiciary a very important
segment of the judicial system, because it is in these courts that the judiciary comes
in close contact with the people. Almost no case begins in the Supreme Court. It
begins in a building like the one near you, and only a small fraction of cases ever
travel up the hierarchy. Locating that building is the point of the exercise — the
judiciary is not a distant idea in New Delhi but an institution a bus ride away.

Questions and Activities — Pages 141–142
End of chapter

QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Q1 Write a model letter to the High Court or Supreme Court about a current social
issue you have observed to bring it to the notice of the judiciary.

ANSWER

The chapter gives you the precedent for exactly this. The first reported case of a Public Interest
Litigation began when a lawyer, Mrs Kapila Hingorani, read in the newspaper that prisoners
undergoing trial had been in jail longer than the punishment they would have received even if
found guilty. She filed a writ petition to secure the release of all such under-trial prisoners in
Bihar, and the Supreme Court ordered their release and issued guidelines that freed almost
40,000 under-trial prisoners across India. So a letter about a wrong you have observed,
addressed to the right court, is a real route — that is what PIL was created for.
First decide which court to write to. The chapter is precise about this:

Page 13 of 26

as e
a g l
Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
em.
m l as
.co a g
Supreme Court — Writ Petition under Article 32

se m Where the issue has an all-India ramification.

g l a Its order binds every court in India (Article 141).

a A citizen brings a
violation of Fundamental

com
Rights to the court

.
emthe violation is of citizens’ rights within the
High Court — Writ Petition under Article 226
ag
a s
gl territorial limits of the State.
Where

a
o m
A PIL is filed under these same two Articles — 32 and 226.

. c
s e mchapter.
Which court a citizen may approach directly, following pages 131–132 of the

. com a gla
a s eamgood letter must contain — six things, in this order: (1) the court and the judge it is
l
What

agaddressed to; (2) who you are; (3) the facts, plainly and without exaggeration, with dates and a
place; (4) whose right is affected and why this is a matter of public concern and not a private

om a s
newspaper report, names of people willing.cto speak. Keep it short, factual and respectful. Do agl
complaint; (5) what you are asking the court to do; (6) the proof you can offer — photographs, a

s m
efacts
g l a
not name individuals as guilty or claim you have not seen.
Sample answer — model letter: a

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 14 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

To,
The Hon’ble Chief Justice and the Hon’ble Judges,
High Court of ______________
______________ (city)
Subject: Untreated waste water from a drain entering the ______ pond at ______ village, and its effect on
the health of residents
Respected Sir/Madam,
I am a student of Class 8 at ______________ School, ______________. I am writing to bring to the notice of this
Hon’ble Court a matter that affects the health and daily life of the residents of my locality.
Since about March this year, an open drain carrying untreated waste water has been emptying into the
______ pond, which is the only water body in our village and is used by families for washing and by cattle
for drinking. The water has turned dark and gives off a strong smell. Several residents, including young
children, have suffered repeated stomach illness during these months. Residents have complained twice
in writing to the local body, on ____ and ____ , but the discharge has not stopped.
The Constitution guarantees the Right to Life to every citizen, and I have read that clean surroundings
are part of living with dignity. Since the pond is used in common by the whole village, this is not a private
grievance but a matter of public concern.
I therefore respectfully request this Hon’ble Court to be pleased to take note of this matter and to direct
the authorities concerned to (i) stop the discharge of untreated waste water into the pond, (ii) get the
water tested and the pond cleaned, and (iii) report to this Court on the steps taken.
I enclose photographs taken on ____ , a copy of the complaint sent to the local body, and a newspaper
report dated ____ . I am willing to place any further information before the Court.
Yours respectfully,
______________ (name)
Class 8, ______________ School
Address · Date

Why this letter is written the way it is: a court can act only on facts and only
within the law. So the letter carries dates, a named place, evidence and an earlier
complaint that went unanswered — that last point shows the ordinary remedy has
already been tried. It asks for a direction to the authorities, not for anyone to be
punished, because that is what a court gives in this kind of case. And it states clearly
why the whole village is affected, since a PIL is meant for an issue of public concern,
not for a private quarrel.

Do this properly: write the letter about something you have actually seen — a
broken footpath outside a school, a garbage dump beside a water tank, an unfenced
open well. Then check the format with your teacher before treating it as more than a
classroom exercise.

Page 15 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 Imagine that you are part of the legislature or executive. Given the large number of
cases in the judicial system, what are some innovative solutions that you can devise
to address the issue?

ANSWER

The chapter itself says the judicial system addresses a huge number of cases on a regular basis,
and it points to the two directions in which the answer lies: send fewer disputes into the courts,
and let the courts move faster on the ones that arrive. As a member of the legislature or the
executive I would work on four fronts.
1. Take dispute out of the courtroom wherever the parties agree. This is the chapter’s own
remedy — courts increasingly encourage litigants to settle through arbitration,
mediation/conciliation, negotiation and Lok Adalats.

Fund a mediation centre attached to every district court, staffed under The Mediation
Act, 2023, so that suitable cases are offered mediation on the very first date rather than after
years.
Hold Lok Adalats on a fixed, publicised calendar — say the second Saturday of each month
in every district — so that people can plan for them. They are recognised under the Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987 and can settle cases already pending in the courts.
Set up the Gram Nyayalayas the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 provides for, in blocks that do
not yet have one. Being mobile and village-level, with a simplified procedure and no
technicalities, they stop small disputes from becoming long cases.

2. Use digital technology to remove waiting rather than only to record it. The chapter lists
the initiatives already taken — e-Filing, hybrid hearings, live streaming of proceedings,
translation of judgments into multiple Indian languages, and the National Judicial Data
Grid. As executive I would build on them.

Make e-Filing possible from every common service centre in a village, so a litigant does not
travel to file a paper.
Extend hybrid hearings to routine dates — an adjournment or a small procedural matter
should not cost a farmer a day’s wage and a bus fare.
Use the National Judicial Data Grid as a management tool, not just a display: publish which
categories of case are oldest in each district, and post additional judges there. The chapter
notes that since 2024–2025 a ‘Virtual Justice Clock’ screen at the Supreme Court’s main
gates shows real-time judicial data — that same transparency, district by district, would show
exactly where the blockage is.

3. Reduce the flow at its source.

The government is itself the largest litigant in many kinds of case. As executive I would
require every department to have a small committee that examines whether an appeal is
really necessary before it is filed, and to settle clear claims of employees and pensioners
without going to court at all.

Page 16 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

As legislature, I would review and repeal outdated laws — the chapter records that over
1500 laws enacted during British rule have already been repealed. Fewer, clearer laws mean
fewer disputes about what the law means.
Write new laws in plain language, and publish an authoritative version in the regional
languages, so that ordinary transactions do not need a court to interpret them.

4. Strengthen the courts themselves.

Fill vacancies quickly. A sanctioned post lying empty is a courtroom not sitting.
Increase court infrastructure — rooms, record-keeping staff and stenographers — since a
judge without a functioning registry cannot hear more cases.
Support the shift the chapter describes in the criminal law: the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,
2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam,
2023 aim at faster justice, use of digital evidence and better protection for victims. As
executive I would train police and court staff in handling digital evidence, since a law only
works if the people applying it can use it.

Why the answer must stay on my own side of the line: the Constitution
prescribes separation of powers among the legislature, executive and judiciary, and
requires the judiciary to remain independent of the other organs. So a legislator or
minister may create courts, fund them, staff them, pass better laws and build the
technology — but may not tell a judge how to decide a case or which case to hear
first. Every solution above changes the conditions under which courts work, never
the decisions they take. That limit is not a weakness in the answer; it is the point of
the design.

Page 17 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q3 Create a moot court and enact the following cases. What are the considerations
that the judge might need to take into account to arrive at a just outcome? (i) Anita
and Sameer worked in a factory that produced different types of screws. They had
both completed an Industrial Training Institute diploma and joined the factory
together. One day, Anita discovered that she was getting paid less than Sameer for
the same job. After many appeals to her boss and no change in her salary, she
decided to go to court. Enact this scene from the litigants’ perspective, showcasing
their respective points of view. What might be the outcome of the case? (ii) The
people of a village living next to a river used its water for drinking and irrigation
purposes. Gradually, they began to notice that the clear water was turning a
brownish colour and had begun to smell too. Many people were falling sick. They
figured that this was due to the effluents that were being discharged by a factory
upstream. What are the steps that the residents of the village could take to ensure
that the water is clean again?

ANSWER

Setting up the moot court. You need a judge, one litigant and counsel for each side, and a
court clerk to call the case. Each side gets an uninterrupted turn; the judge may ask questions
but decides only after both sides have finished. Announce the decision with reasons — in a
moot court the reasoning is the whole exercise, not the verdict.
The considerations a judge must take into account — the same four in every case:

1. Procedural justice. Has every person involved had a full opportunity of hearing before the
decision is taken? Is the person against whom a complaint is made being treated as innocent
till proved guilty? A judge who has decided before hearing has already failed, however good
the final order looks.
2. Substantive justice. Is the outcome actually fair, just and reasonable? Does it genuinely put
right what went wrong, or does it only close the file?
3. The law and the Constitution. What does the applicable law say, and does the decision sit
within the framework of the Constitution and the Fundamental Rights it guarantees —
Equality, Liberty, Right to Life, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion?
4. Evidence. What is actually proved, as against what is merely asserted? A judge decides on
the record placed before the court.

(i) Anita and Sameer — equal pay for the same work

Anita’s case: she and Sameer hold the same Industrial Training Institute diploma, joined the
factory on the same day and do the same job. She is paid less. She has appealed to her
employer many times and nothing changed, so she has come to court only after trying the
ordinary remedy. She asks the court to order equal pay and to make up the difference she has
already lost.

Page 18 of 26

as e
a g l
Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The employer’s case: the employer must be heard too, and the judge must ask what is actually
co m
being claimed — for example that the two do different work, or work different shifts, or that the
em.
comthat is not a difference in work at all.
pay difference comes from some rule applied to everyone. If the reason offered is simply that
g l as
. a
s em
Anita is a woman,
a
agl
What the judge would examine:

QUESTION THE JUDGE WHAT WOULD ANSWER IT
co m
ASKS
e m . ag
g l as
Is it really the same job?
a
The appointment letters, the job description, the shift register, what the
supervisor says the two actually do

co m
m.
Are their qualifications and Both hold an ITI diploma and joined together — Anita’s strongest fact

m ase
l
service the same?

.co a g
a s em
Is there a lawful reason for the The pay rules of the factory, applied to every worker and not to Anita

ag ldifference? alone

s
The employer’s written reply and the chance to question Anita’s
a
Was the employer heard?
m
.co agl
evidence

se m
g l a
Correcting the salary going forward, and the arrears already lost
a
What would set it right?

What the outcome might be. If Anita proves that the work, the qualification and the date of

. com
joining are the same and the employer offers no lawful reason for the difference, the court
would be expected to hold the difference unjustified and direct that sheebe
s mpaid the same as
m a
cowith the arrears. The Constitution guarantees Equality asagalFundamental Right, and a
.
emdifference resting on nothing but sex cannot stand with it. If, on the other hand, the
Sameer,

a s
gl employer proves the two do genuinely different work, the claim would fail — and that too would
pay

a
be a just outcome, because justice means the decision follows the facts.
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
Where such a case is heard: a dispute between a worker and a factory is normally

a gl
taken up by the labour authorities and the courts under the labour laws. If a
Fundamental Right is at stake, the chapter shows the constitutional route as well —
a writ petition before the High Court under Article 226, or before the Supreme Court
co m
m .
e
under Article 32 where the issue has an all-India ramification.
m l as
.co
m(ii) The polluted river a g
l a se
ag
.c
m
The villagers have more than one route, and the sensible order is from the nearest remedy to
s e
om la
the highest.

1. Establish the facts first. Getm . c a g
s e the water tested and keep the report; keep dated photographs

a g la of the river before and after it; collect the hospital or health-
of the discharge point and
centre records of those who fell ill. A court decides on evidence, so the case is built here.

com
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 19 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

2. Complain to the authority responsible. Approach the local body and the State Pollution
Control Board in writing, and keep a copy with the date. If the ordinary remedy works, no
case is needed; if it does not, that written complaint becomes proof that they tried.
3. Go to the tribunal made for this. The chapter’s Fig. 4.7 is exact — the National Green
Tribunal decides environmental issues. It is quasi-judicial, established for this category of
dispute, and is the natural forum for a claim about effluents discharged into a river.
4. File a writ petition or a PIL. Since the whole village is affected, this is an issue of public
concern. A PIL under Article 226 before the High Court fits a violation within the State; a PIL
under Article 32 before the Supreme Court fits an issue with all-India ramification. The
chapter records that PIL was introduced by the Supreme Court precisely to give meaning to
the Right to Life under Article 21, and that in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India the Supreme
Court took up environmental issues such as the cleaning of the River Ganga.
5. Appeal if necessary. The chapter notes that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear
appeals from specialised tribunals such as the National Green Tribunal, so an unsatisfactory
order is not the end of the road.

What the villagers should ask for — not simply that the factory be punished, but that the
harm be undone: an order stopping the discharge, a direction to treat the effluent before
releasing it, cleaning of the affected stretch, testing of the water at fixed intervals with reports
filed in court, medical help for those who fell ill, and compensation for the loss to crops and
health.

Why the judge’s job is harder than it looks here: both sides have something real
at stake — the villagers’ health and water, and the livelihoods of those who work at
the factory. Substantive justice is not served by an order that is impossible to obey,
nor by one that leaves the river as it is. The just outcome is usually a time-bound
direction: stop the untreated discharge at once, install treatment within a fixed
period, and report back to the court — so that the wrong ends without the remedy
creating a fresh injustice. That is also why courts keep such matters on the file and
call for reports instead of deciding once and closing the case.

Q4 Many eminent individuals from across India have served as Supreme Court or High
Court judges. Write an essay about one such individual from your state or district,
talking about their contributions as a judge of the Supreme Court or High Court.

ANSWER

This essay must be built on facts you have verified, not on recollection — a judge’s reputation
rests on their judgments, and getting those wrong makes the essay worthless. So begin with
the research, then write.
How to find your subject:

Page 20 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Open the official website of your State’s High Court — use the table on pages 134–135 to
identify which High Court covers your State. Every High Court site carries a list of former
Chief Justices and judges, and many carry short profiles.
Ask your school library for a general knowledge yearbook, a district gazetteer, or a biography
section; ask your teacher and, if there is one nearby, the district bar association or the
district court library.
Newspaper archives are useful for the period when the judge was serving.
Cross-check every date and case name in two independent sources before you put it in the
essay.

What a good essay must contain — plan it in five paragraphs:

1. Who they were and where they came from — place of birth, the district or town
connecting them to you, education, and how they entered the law.
2. Their path through the judiciary — as an advocate, then elevation to the High Court and, if
applicable, to the Supreme Court, with the years. Connect this to the chapter: appointment is
by the President of India, and the qualifications are laid down in Article 124 for the
Supreme Court and Article 217(2) for a High Court.
3. Their contribution as a judge — this is the heart of the essay. Take one or two judgments
and explain, in your own words, what the case was about, what the court decided and why it
mattered to ordinary people. Use the chapter’s vocabulary: was this a case of writ
jurisdiction, a PIL, an appeal, a matter of interpreting the Constitution?
4. Their work beyond judging — legal aid, Lok Adalats, judicial education, committees or
commissions, writing.
5. Why they are remembered — end with your own assessment, supported by what you have
set out above, not with praise you cannot back.

Sample answer — an opening paragraph in the right register (fill in from your own verified
research):
“Justice ______________ was born in ______ district of our State in ______ and studied law at ______________.
After ______ years of practice at the ______ High Court, chiefly in ______________ matters, ______ was
appointed a judge of that High Court in ______ and later elevated to the Supreme Court of India in
______ , retiring in ______ . The judgment for which ______ is best remembered in our district is
______________ , where the question before the court was ______________ . The court held that ______________
. The effect of the decision was that ______________ , which is why the case is still cited whenever
______________ arises.”

Two cautions. First, write about a judge’s completed work, not about cases still
being heard — the chapter’s own example of a decided matter, Vishaka & Ors. v. State
of Rajasthan, shows what a finished contribution looks like: guidelines laid down in
1997 which the Government later turned into the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Second, keep the essay
descriptive. Explain what the judge decided and why it mattered; do not turn it into
an argument for or against a side in a live public dispute.

Page 21 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why this activity is in the chapter: the judiciary can look like an abstraction —
Articles, jurisdictions, a pyramid of courts. Tracing one person’s career shows that
the institution is made of people who had to qualify, be appointed, hear both sides
and write down their reasons, and that a single well-reasoned judgment from your
own district can change how the law works for the whole country.

Q5 Have an interaction with anyone you know who is a part of the judicial system. Try
to understand their work, the challenges they face, and what gives them
satisfaction. Create a small presentation and share it with the class. You can do this
in small groups.

ANSWER

Who counts as ‘part of the judicial system’ — far more people than judges. Any of these will
give you a real interview: an advocate, a court clerk or reader, a stenographer, a process server, a
legal aid volunteer, a mediator, a Lok Adalat member, a notary, a district legal services authority
staff member, a law student, or a police officer who has to produce evidence in court. If you
know a retired judge, that is best of all; but do not treat the exercise as impossible if you do not.
How to do it well:

1. Ask permission first, say clearly that this is a school project, and fix a time. Go in a group of
three or four, one asking, one writing, one keeping time.
2. Prepare your questions in writing and take them along. Ask permission before recording
or photographing.
3. Do not ask about any specific case that is going on. Ask about the work, not about
litigants. This is both good manners and the correct thing to do.
4. Write up the notes the same day, while you still remember the tone as well as the words.
5. Thank them, and send a copy of your presentation afterwards.

Questions worth asking, grouped as the activity asks:

Page 22 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

THEIR WORK THE CHALLENGES WHAT GIVES SATISFACTION

What does an ordinary working What part of the work is Which piece of work are you most
day look like, from morning to hardest? glad you did?
evening?

How did you come into this How long does a matter usually Have you seen someone get a
work, and what training did it take, and what makes it take remedy they could not have got
need? that long? otherwise?

Which kinds of matter come What do people misunderstand Has mediation or a Lok Adalat ever
most often to your court? most about the courts? ended a dispute better than a
judgment would have?

How has e-Filing, hybrid What is still difficult for a What would you say to a student
hearing or the National Judicial person who has no lawyer? thinking of this work?
Data Grid changed your day?

Structure for the presentation — six slides:

1. Title — who you met, their role, where, and the date.
2. Their place in the system — a small diagram of the court hierarchy from Fig. 4.5 with their
position marked, so the class sees where they sit in the pyramid.
3. A day in their work — a simple timeline.
4. Challenges — three points, in their own words where you can quote them.
5. What gives them satisfaction — one point, with the story behind it.
6. What our group learnt — two or three sentences linking back to the chapter.

Sample answer — the kind of finding a group might report:
“We met Shri ______________ , an advocate practising at the District Court, on ______ . He said most of his
day is not spent arguing but waiting — for a file, for the other side, for a date. He said the hardest
part of the work is explaining to a client why a matter takes as long as it does, and that the biggest
change in recent years is that a litigant can now check the status of the case online instead of asking
him. What gives him most satisfaction, he said, was a matter settled in a Lok Adalat between two
families who had stopped speaking for years, because a judgment would have decided who won but
would not have ended the quarrel.”

What the exercise is meant to show: the chapter says the subordinate judiciary
matters because it is there that the judiciary comes in close contact with the people.
An interview makes that concrete. You will usually find that the daily reality is
paperwork, waiting and patient explanation rather than dramatic argument — and
that the moments people remember with satisfaction are almost always the ones
where an ordinary person got a remedy they could not have obtained on their own.
That is the chapter’s claim about the judiciary, told from the inside.

Page 23 of 26

as e
a g l
Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
e m.
Chapter at amglance
l as
m .co a g
se
Justice is what keeps a society peaceful and lets people live with equality and dignity. The

g l a
a the law. It is one of the three pillars of the government, independent of the legislature and
Judiciary is the institution which ensures fair adjudication of disputes in accordance with

m
the executive.

. co ag
m
The government's way to ensure justice is by framing laws — but a law can itself be unjust.

l a se
India has repealed over 1500 laws enacted under British rule, such as the Criminal Tribes
ag Act, 1878. Elsewhere, the Jim Crow laws in parts of the
Act, 1871 and the Vernacular Press
United States were repealed in the 1960s and apartheid laws in South Africa in 1991.

. c om
Justice has two aspects. Substantive justice asks whether the final outcome is fair, just and
reasonable. Procedural justice asks whether every person involved got am
s e full opportunity of
hearingo—
. gla guilty.
c mand, as a rule, every person is presumed innocent till aproved
a s em judicial system is unified and arranged in a hierarchy: the Supreme Court at the
gl apex (Article 124, New Delhi, in existence since 26.01.1950), 25 High Courts at the State
India's

a level (Article 214), and subordinate courts at the district level (Articles 233–237). Specialised

a s
comof the Constitution. It exercises writ (Article agl
tribunals decide particular kinds of dispute.
.
s em
The Supreme Court is the final interpreter
a
agl
32), original (131), appellate (132, 133, 134, 134A), advisory (143) and special leave (136)
jurisdiction; it can pass any order needed for complete justice (142); and the law it declares

com
binds every court in India (141). Public Interest Litigation, filed under Articles 32 and 226,

.
was its own innovation to give meaning to the Right to Life under Article 21 — from Mrs

m a s em of India and
gl
Kapila Hingorani’s petition for under-trial prisoners to M.C. Mehta v. Union

. co & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan. a
em
Vishaka

g l as Filing, hybrid hearings, live streaming, translated judgments, the National Judicial Data Grid)
To lighten the load on the courts and widen access, the system now uses digital tools (e-
a
and alternate modes of dispute resolution — arbitration, mediation/conciliation,
se m
com g l a
.
negotiation, Lok Adalats and Gram Nyayalayas.
m a
ase
agl

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

com
m .
m ase
.co


a g l Page 24 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

TERM WHAT IT MEANS WHERE THE FACT TO REMEMBER
CHAPTER
USES IT

Judiciary The branch of the State that decides LET’S One of the three pillars of the
disputes in accordance with the law, REMEMBER, p. government
independent of the legislature and 127
the executive

Substantive Justice judged by the final result — Aspects of It looks at the outcome
justice is the decision actually fair, just and justice (Fig. 4.4),
reasonable? p. 129

Procedural Every person involved gets a full p. 129 Every person is presumed innocent
justice opportunity of hearing before the till proved guilty
court decides

Writ petition An application filed directly in a Writ Jurisdiction, Article 32 → Supreme Court; Article
Constitutional Court to enforce a p. 131 226 → High Court
Fundamental Right

Public Interest A case filed to place an issue of PIL, p. 132 An innovation of the Supreme
Litigation (PIL) public concern before the court, not Court, giving meaning to the Right
a purely private grievance to Life (Article 21)

Original The power to hear a dispute first, p. 132 Article 131 — Centre v. State, and
jurisdiction not as an appeal inter-State disputes such as river
water disputes

Appellate The power to hear an appeal against p. 133 Articles 132, 133, 134 and 134A;
jurisdiction the decision of a lower court or appeals also lie from the NGT and
tribunal NCLAT

Advisory Giving the President the Court’s p. 133 Article 143 — heard by a
jurisdiction opinion on a question of law or fact Constitution Bench of not less than
of public importance five judges

Special Leave The Supreme Court’s extraordinary p. 133 Article 136
Petition discretionary power to allow an
appeal from any court or tribunal in
India

Tribunal A committee or body established to Tribunals, p. 136 Quasi-judicial — NCLT, NGT, CAT,
settle certain types of disputes APTEL, Armed Forces Tribunal,
Consumer Fora

Page 25 of 26

Class 8 Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

TERM WHAT IT MEANS WHERE THE FACT TO REMEMBER
CHAPTER
USES IT

Litigant A person involved in a legal case — p. 138 Digital access now lets a litigant
both the person who sues and the check the case directly, not only
person who gets sued through a lawyer

Alternate Settling a dispute without a full p. 139–140 Arbitration, mediation/conciliation,
dispute court trial negotiation, Lok Adalat, Gram
resolution Nyayalaya

Page 26 of 26