Special Judges and Benches

(1) The Central Government may after consultation with the High Court appoint any person to be an Honorary Subordinate Judge, and the High Court may confer on such Judge all or any of the powers conferable under this Act on a Subordinate Judge with respect to particular classes of suits or with respect to suits generally in any local area. (2) The Central Government may direct any even number of persons invested with powers of the same description and exercisable within the same local area under this section to sit together as a bench; those powers shall, while the direction remains in force, be exercised by the bench so constituted, and not otherwise. (3) The decision of the majority of the members of a bench constituted under this section shall be deemed to be the decision of the bench. (4) Persons on whom powers are conferred under this section and the benches constituted under this section shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Part, to be Subordinate Judges. (1) The [State Government] may confer [within such local limits as it thinks fit] on a Subordinate Judge [or Munsif] the jurisdiction of a Judge of a Court of Small Causes under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act, 1887, for the trial of suits cognizable by such Courts up to such value not exceeding [five hundred rupees] [in the case of a Subordinate Judge and two hundred and fifty rupees in the case of a Munsif] as it thinks fit, and may withdraw any jurisdiction so conferred. (2) The [Central Government] may direct any number of persons invested with powers of the same description and exercisable within the same local area under this section to sit together as a bench; those powers shall, while the direction remains in force, be exercised by the bench so constituted, and not otherwise. (3) The decision of the majority of the members of a bench constituted under this section shall be deemed to be the decision of the bench. (4) Persons on whom powers are conferred under this section and the benches constituted under this section shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Part, to be Subordinate Judges.