INTRODUCTION

            The District and Sessions Court is at the heart of the city. Litigant Public approaches the Court with their grievances and for its redress. The Court Complex is located at a distance of 200 feet from the Town Mahila Samaj and in the nearby vicinity of State Bank of Mysore, S.P Office, I.B., Income Tax Office, L.I.C. Office, District Central Library and other government offices.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

 The District and Sessions court is the functional Head of the District. Apart from the District Court 7 more courts are functioning in the court complex, viz., the courts of additional District and Sessions Judge, civil Judge (Sr.Dn) and Chief Judicial Magistrate. Prl. Civil Judge (Jr.Dn) & JMFC, Additional Civil Judge (Jr.Dn) & JMFC and Labour court,Fast Track court-1, Fast Track court-11 And 12 ( twelve) Courts are established in the six Talukas viz., Kadur, Tarikere, Mudigere, Narasimharajapura, Sringeri and Koppa. 

The District Court has been computerized and the works of Civil/Criminal/Accounts / Administrative branches are regularly updated. The computerization of all the courts in the district ( Ecept Fast Track courts  and Civil Judge (Sr.Dn) and J.M.FC, Court-Kadur) is taken up. The sub-ordinate courts of the Chikmagalur District i.e. Taluka courts are also fully computerized and now they are linked to the district court through ISDN lines and data importing started in the district court. Right now six Taluka Courts are established i.e. Kadur, Tarikere, Mudigere, Narasimharajapura, Sringeri and Koppa.

Now Case filing, Caveat filing, IA filing, certified copy, summons etc are done through computers with the help of court software named ‘Litigation Management System’. All the Taluka courts are also using the court software named ‘Litigation Management System’ and the data collected in their server was imported daily to the District Court through MODEM everyday. Now database has been exported to Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore regularly. Now the District Court has been provided with High speed ISDN connection for data importing and exporting and in due course of time  it  is going to be updated with Video conferencing. The Payroll of the employees and Annual Budget estimates are being done through computers. Now the Dist.court has got an E-mail facility provided by the Sancharnet (rgkarhc9@sancharnet.in) and NICNET, Chikmagalur. The proposal of Enquiry Counter in District Court Complex will be completed in due course. This Enquiry Counter help the Litigant Public to approach the District Court for their litigant information which are filed in the Chikmagalur Sub-ordinate Taluka courts to know the status. The Construction of the Annex Building which is in progress in the Court complex will be completed in due course of time.

Hon'ble High Court Judge Inaugurating the Dist. Court Computer Centre,NIC, Chickmagalur

WHO SHOULD BE CONTACTED AND FOR WHAT

    People come to the courts with variety of grievances and most of them do not know as to whom they have to contact to get their work done.  Some useful information for the sake of litigant public is furnished as hereunder. The District Court has many functional wings and wing functions with co-ordination to one another. viz.,

1. ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION.

    This section deals with the matter relating to vacancies, appointments, transfers and promotions, postings, CCA (Clarification, Control and Appeals), pleadings and all applications are to be filed before this court and are received in this section.  The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who is the head of the Administrative Section is assisting the District Judge in Administrative and other matters.

2. Civil pending branch

This section deals with all the matters pertaining to civil side, such as putting up of order sheets, maintaining pending records and registers, issue of summonses etc.,

 3. criminal pending branch:

This section deals with all matters pertaining to Criminal side including the properties (Material objects) in criminal cases.

 4. copying branch

 This section receives all the copy applications being filed by the parties and Advocates both on Civil and Criminal cases, preparing and certified copies and delivering the same to the applicants. Further the said Branch prepares the Paper Books required by the advocates in conducting the appeals.

 5.  accounts branch

 This section maintains the Service Registers of District Court Staff. Daily Transactions of money matters pertaining to Civil Court Deposit / Criminal Court Deposit, pay and allowances, pension papers and payment of Batta to witnesses under the supervision of Accounts Sheristedar.

 6. central process braNCh:

 The Process Nazer is the head of the branch and deals with all the matters pertaining to Process Section i.e. receiving processes, notices, injunction, Orders and all types of warrants to be executed and numbering the same with XXVI No. And entrusting the same to the process staff for service and execution and return the same to the courts of issue.  Further the Nazer deals with the matters pertaining to Audit Reports of all the sub-ordinate courts in the District and regarding the Inspection of the Lower Courts.

7. Central record room

It is the custodian of all the Civil and Criminal cases disposed of on the file of various courts in the District including the District Court and the parties may obtain certified copies of the documents in any cases of any courts by applying for the same before the C.

District Legal Service Authority

With a view to provide free and Competent Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities and to organize Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the Legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity.  The District Legal Service Authority was constituted in all the Districts in the state under the Chairmanship of  Prl.District and Sessions Judge. The Civil Judge (Sr.Dn and C.J.M. shall be the Member Secretary of the said D.L.S.A.  At Taluka level Legal Service Authority have been constituted in all the Talukas shall be the EX-OFFICIO Chairman and the Judicial Officers working in the respective Taluka Head Quarters shall be the Member Secretary of Taluka Legal Service Authority.  The said Authorities hold Lok Adalat Meetings frequently and settle all types of disputes between the parties (both civil and criminal) with the assistance of Conciliators and thus take extra measure to draw schemes for effective and meaningful legal services for settling rural disputes at the door steps of the rural people by organizing various legal service programmes as approved by the State Authority and convene Meeting / Seminars and workshops connected with Legal Service Programmes. Deserving persons may approach either D.L.S.A or T.L.S.A as the case may be for redress of their grievances and get them settled though the Lok Adalats and the Competent Courts. Now Lok Adalahs will be held on first and last Satuarday of every Month.