Chapter VII Chapter VII

(1) The ( State) Government may invest with the powers of any Civil Court under this Act, by name or in virtue of office- (a) any officer in the Chotanagpur, (Sambalpur), (Jalpaiguri of Darjeeling District), ( or in any part of the territories administered by the Chief Commissioner of Assam, except the district of Sylhet ) or (b) After consultation with the High Court, any officer serving in any other part of the territories to which this Act extends and belonging to a class defined in this behalf by the State Government. (2) Nothing in ( Sections 4, 5,6,8,10 or 11) applies to any officer so invested, but all the other provisions of this Act, shall so far as those provisions can be made applicable, apply to him as if he were a Judge of the Court with the powers of which he is invested. (3) Where in the territories mentioned in Clause (a) of sub-Section (1), the same local jurisdiction is assigned to two or more officers invested with the powers of a Civil Judge (Junior Division) the officers invested with the powers of a Principal District Judge may, with the previous sanction of the State Government, delegate his functions under sub-Section. (2) of Section 13 to the officer invested with the powers of a Civil Judge (Senior Division) or to one of the officers invested with the powers of a Civil Judge (Junior Division). (4) Where the place at which the Court of an officer invested with powers under sub-Section (1) is to be held has not been fixed under Section 14 , the Court may be held at any place within the local limits of its jurisdiction.

(1) Where in any suit or other proceeding it is necessary for a Civil Court to decide any question regarding succession, inheritance, marriage or caste, or any religious usage or institution, the Muhammadan Law in cases where the parties are Muhammadans, and the Hindu Law in cases where the parties are Hindus shall form the rule of decision except in so far as such law has, by legislative enactment, been altered or abolished. (2) In cases not provided for in sub-Section (1) or by any other law for the time being in force, the Court shall act according to justice, equity and goods conscience.

(1) The presiding officer of a Civil Court shall not try any suit or other proceeding to which he is a party or in which he is personally interested. (2) The presiding officer of an Appellate Civil Court under this Act, shall not try an appeal against a decree or order passed by himself in another capacity. (3) When any such suit, proceeding or appeal as is referred to in sub-Section (1) or sub - Section (2) , comes before any such officer, the officer shall forthwith transmit the record of the case to the Court to which he is immediately subordinate with a report of the circumstances attending the reference. (4) The superior Court shall thereupon dispose of the case under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. (5) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the extraordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court.

For the purpose of the last foregoing section, the presiding officer of a Court subject to the administrative control of the Principal District Judge shall be deemed to be immediately subordinate to the Court of the District and for the purpose of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 the Court of such an officer shall be deemed to be of a grade inferior to that of the Court of the Principal District Judge.

(1) This section, and Sections. 15, 3 2 , 37, 38 and 39 apply to Court of Small Causes constituted under the Provincial Small Causes Courts Act. 1887. (2) Save as provided by that Act, the other sections of this Act do not apply to those Courts.