Source: Allahabad High Court

Why in News?

Recently, the Allahabad High Court in the matter of Smt. Monika Yadav v. Aakash Singh & Ors., has held that an appeal against the order of a Civil Judge rejecting a plea for the issuance of a succession certificate would lie before the District Judge under Section 388(2) of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (ISA).

What was the Background of Smt. Monika Yadav v. Aakash Singh & Ors. Case?

• The appellant before the High Court of Allahabad has filed the present appeal under Section 384(1) of the ISA, against the judgment and order passed by the Civil Judge (Senior Division), whereby the application for obtaining the Succession Certificate, has been rejected.
• A question has arisen with regard to the maintainability of the appeal in view of the provisions contained in Section 388(2) of ISA.
• Dismissing the appeal, the Court held that the High Court did not have jurisdiction over such appeals.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• A single bench of Justice Dr. Yogendra Kumar Srivastava observed that an appeal against the order of a Civil Judge rejecting a plea for the issuance of a succession certificate would lie before the District Judge under Section 388(2) of ISA and not before the High Court under Section 384 of the Act.
• It was further held that Section 388 of ISA creates a special jurisdiction on a Court subordinate to the District Judge through investiture of power. Once such power is invested to a Court inferior to the District Judge, under sub­section (1), in that event by virtue of the deeming clause under sub­section (2), such Court would discharge the function of the District Judge by reason of such investiture, and have concurrent jurisdiction in exercise of all the powers conferred by Part X upon the District Judge.
• It was further stated that the proviso to sub­section (2) creates an exception by providing that an appeal from any order of an inferior court falling within the scope of Section 384 would in such circumstance, lie to the District Judge and not to the High Court.

What is Section 388 of ISA?

• This section deals with the Investiture of inferior courts with the jurisdiction of the District Court for the purposes of this Act. It states that -

(1) The State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, invest any court inferior in grade to a District Judge with power to exercise the functions of a District Judge under this Part.

(2) Any inferior court so invested shall, within the local limits of its jurisdiction, have concurrent jurisdiction with the District Judge in the exercise of all the powers conferred by this Part upon the District Judge, and the provisions of this Part relating to the District Judge shall apply to such an inferior court as if it were a District Judge.

Provided that an appeal from any such order of an inferior court as is mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 384 shall lie to the District Judge, and not to the High Court, and that the District Judge may, if he thinks fit, by his order on the appeal, make any such declaration and direction as that sub-section authorizes the High Court to make by its order on an appeal from an order of a District Judge.


(3) An order of a District Judge on an appeal from an order of an inferior Court under the last foregoing sub-section shall, subject to the provisions as to reference to and revision by the High Court and as to review of judgment of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 as applied by section 141 of that Code, be final.

(4) The District Judge may withdraw any proceedings under this Part from an inferior court and may either himself dispose of them or transfer them to another such court established within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the District Judge and having authority to dispose of the proceedings.

(5) A notification under sub-section (1) may specify any inferior court specially or any class of such courts in any local area.

(6) Any Civil Court which for any of the purposes of any enactment is subordinate to, or subject to the control of, a District Judge shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a court inferior in grade to a District Judge.