Class 8 Civics Chapter 4 Judiciary Important Questions and Answers

 

 

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Civics Chapter 4 Judiciary

 

Judiciary – Given in this post is NCERT Solutions Class 8 Civics Chapter 4 Judiciary Important Question Answers. The important questions we have compiled will help the students to brush up on their knowledge about the subject. Students can practice Class 8 Civics Chapter 4 important questions to understand the subject better and improve their performance in the exam. The NCERT Solutions Class 8 Social Science (Civics) provided here will also give students an idea about how to write the answers.

 

Source Based Questions 

 

Read the extract and answer the questions that follow-

A. The control that the politician holds over the judge does not allow for the judge to take an independent decision. This lack of independence would force the judge to make all judgments in favor of the politician. Although we often hear of rich and powerful people in India trying to influence the judicial process, the Indian Constitution protects against this kind of situation by providing for the independence of the judiciary

1 Why is separation of power important?

Ans. Separation of power is important so that the other forms of government do not interfere with each other’s functioning and work together efficiently. 

2 What is a judiciary?

Ans. The judiciary is the branch of authority in a country which is concerned with law and the legal system.

3 What is an independent judiciary?

Ans. The Indian Constitution guarantees the judiciary’s independence. It means that other parts of government, such as the legislative and the administration, are not permitted to interfere with the work of the judiciary. The courts are independent of the government and do not operate on its behalf. The courts ensure that the legislative and the administration do not abuse their powers. 

4 What do you understand about separation of power?

Ans. Separation of powers refers to the division of a state’s government into “branches”, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches

5 Give an example of a situation where the judiciary is not independent?

Ans. For example, a powerful politician has encroached on land belonging to your family. Within this judicial system, the politician has the power to appoint and dismiss a judge from his office. When you take this case to court, the judge is clearly partial to the politician. The control that the politician holds over the judge does not allow for the judge to take an independent decision. This lack of independence would force the judge to make all judgments in favor of the politician.

 

B. There are three different levels of courts in our country. There are several courts at the lower level while there is only one at the apex level. The courts that most people interact with are what are called subordinate or district courts. These are usually at the district or Tehsil level or in towns and they hear many kinds of cases. Each state is divided into districts that are presided over by a District Judge. Each state has a High Court which is the highest court of that state. At the top is the Supreme Court that is located in New Delhi and is presided over by the Chief Justice of India. The decisions made by the Supreme Court are binding on all other courts in India.

1 What are the different levels of courts in India? 

Ans. District courts, High Courts and Supreme Court are the three types of courts in India.

2 The courts that most people interact with are called _____________________.

Ans. The courts that most people interact with are called subordinate or district courts.

3  Each state is divided into districts that are presided over by a State Judge. True/False.

Ans. False, Each state is divided into districts that are presided over by a District Judge. 

4 What is the highest court in any state?

Ans. The High Court is the highest court of a state. 

5 Where is the Apex court located and who presides over it?

Ans. At the top is the Supreme Court that is located in New Delhi and is presided over by the Chief Justice of India. 

 

C. In principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this country. This implies that every citizen has a right to justice through the courts. As you read earlier, the courts play a very significant role in protecting our Fundamental Rights. If any citizen believes that their rights are being violated, then they can approach the court for justice to be done. While the courts are available for all, in reality access to courts has always been difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India. Legal procedures involve a lot of money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. For a poor person who cannot read and whose family depends on a daily wage, the idea of going to court to get justice often seems remote.

1 What is right to justice?

Ans. Right to justice means that every citizen has the right to seek justice in case of any redressal that they face. 

2 Is the right to justice applicable in India?

Ans. In principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this country. This implies that every citizen has a right to justice through the courts.

3 Are the courts easily accessible to the poor?

Ans. No, while the courts are available for all, in reality access to courts has always been difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India.

4 _____________involve a lot of money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. 

Ans. Legal procedures involve a lot of money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. 

5 Why is the idea of going to courts remote for poor people?

Ans. For a poor person who cannot read and whose family depends on a daily wage, the idea of going to court to get justice often seems remote, due to accessibility to the system.

 

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) (1 Mark)

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a type of objective assessment in which a person is asked to choose one or more correct answers from a list of available options. An MCQ presents a question along with several possible answers.

Q1  _____ was established in 1950. 

A) Supreme Court
B) High Court Calcutta
C) HC Mumbai
D) HC Madras
Ans. A) Supreme Court

Q2. Gauhati High Court has a bench in _____.

A) Kolkata
B) Aizawl
C) Delhi
D) Patna
Ans. B) Aizawl

Q3 Andhra Pradesh and _____ have a separate HC from 1 January 2019 onwards.

A) Telangana
B) Karnataka
C) Kerala
D) Delhi
Ans. A) Telangana

Q4 ____ deals with harm and injury to individuals’ rights. 

A) Civil Law
B) Contract Law
C) Procedural Law
D) Criminal Law
Ans. A) Civil Law

Q5 _____ faced a heavy drought in 2001. 

A) Jammu and Kashmir
B) Rajasthan
C) Karnataka
D) Tamil Nadu
Ans. B) Rajasthan

Q6 _____ had introduced PILs in the 1980s. 

A) Supreme Court
B) High Court Calcutta
C) Cabinet Ministers
D) Prime Ministers
Ans. A) Supreme Court

Q7 Right to Food is mentioned in _____ of Indian Constitution. 

A) Article 25
B) Article 21
C) Article 22
D) Article 23
Ans. B) Article 21 

Q8 The sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges are ____. 

A) 31
B) 35
C) 32
D) 33
Ans. A) 31

Q9 Every Indian citizen has Right to ____ through Courts.

A) law
B) justice
C) cases
D) judgment
Ans. B) justice

Q10 India has _____ High Courts currently.

A) 22
B) 20
C) 25
D) 23
Ans. C) 25

Q11 The removal of persons from land or homes that they are currently living in is called

A) violation
B) eviction
C) separation of power
D) judiciary
Ans. B) eviction

Q12 Which article states the fundamental Right to Life guarantees the right to food?

A) Article 21
B) Article 23
C) Article 25
D) Article 20
Ans. A) Article 21

Q13 What is referred to as the supreme law of the land?

A) Constitution
B) Preamble
C) Assembly
D) None of these
Ans. A) Constitution

Q14 Name the only Union Territory which has a High Court of its own?

A) Pondicherry
B) Delhi
C) Chandigarh
D) Daman and Diu
Ans. B) Delhi

Q15 Judiciary in India resolves the disputes between

A) State and State
B) State and Citizen
C) Citizen and Citizen
D) All the above
Ans. D) All the above

Q16 What is the full form of PIL?

A) Public Interest limited
B) Public Interference Limited
C) Public Interest litigation
D) None of these
Ans. C) Public Interest litigation

Q17 Unsatisfied from which court an individual goes to the Supreme Court?

A) Lok Adalats
B) Nyaya Panchayats
C) High Court
D) District Court
Ans. C) High Court

Q18 At what age does a judge of the High Court retire?

A) 62 Years
B) 65 Years
C) 60 Years
D) 64 Years
Ans. A) 62 Years

Q19 What is the rule of law?

A) Rich people are superior to other
B) Low caste people are inferior
C) All are same before law
D) None of these
Ans. C) All are same before law

Q20 In which year PUCL filed the PIL in the Supreme Court against the government for the food short-age?

A) 2000
B) 2001
C) 2003
D) 2002
Ans. B) 2001

Q21 Who is the final interpreter of our Constitution?

A) Judiciary
B) Government
C) Executive
D) Legislative
Ans. A) Judiciary

Q22 Which is the foremost judicial body of our country?

A) Supreme Court
B) High court
C) Lok Adalat
D) None of these
Ans. A) Supreme Court

Q23 What is the system consisting of courts which interpret the constitution and award judgment?
A) Judiciary
B) Parliament
C) Police
D) Legislative
Ans. A) Judiciary

Q24 What provisions are provided to ensure the independence of the judiciary in India?
A) The Parliament can give judgment in criminal cases.
B) The judges can be easily removed.
C) Our Constitution has various provisions
D) The executive can overrule the judgment given by the Supreme/High courts.
Ans. C) Our Constitution has various provisions

Q25 The idea of the Public Interest Litigation was given by whom?
A) President of India
B) Prime Minister of India
C) Supreme Court of India
D) Parliament
Ans. C) Supreme Court of India

Very Short Answer Questions (1 Mark)

Q1 Where were High Courts first established and when?. 

Ans. High Courts were first established in the three Presidency cities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1962. 

Q2. What do you mean by ‘judicial review’?

Ans. Judicial review means the judiciary has the power to strike down particular laws passed by the Parliament if it finds they don’t adhere to the Constitution.

Q3. What do you mean when you say ‘we have an integrated judicial system’?

Ans. It means that the decisions made by higher courts are binding on the lower courts. 

Q4. What do you mean by the appellate system? 

Ans. It means that a person can appeal to a higher court if they are not satisfied with the judgment of the lower court. 

Q5. The seven north-east states have a common High Court. Where is it located? 

Ans. It is located at Guwahati. 

Q6. How many judges are there in the Supreme Court?

Ans. There are 26 judges in the Supreme Court.

Q7. What do you mean when you say ‘we have an integrated judicial system’?

Ans. It means that the decisions made by higher courts are binding on the lower courts.

Q8. What does criminal law deal with?

Ans. Criminal law deals with conduct or acts that the law defines as offenses. For example, theft, harassing a woman to bring more dowry, murder.

Q9. What are appellate cases?

Ans. Appellate cases are appeals against the judgments of the High Courts. As the highest judicial authority the Supreme Court has the power to review the decisions of the High Courts and give its own judgments. 

Q10. In which Article of the Constitution is the Fundamental Right to Life guaranteed?

Ans. The Fundamental Right to Life is guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution. 

Short Answer Questions (3 Marks)

Q1. Mention three different levels of courts in our country.

Ans. Three different levels of court in our country are:

• Subordinate or district courts.
• High Court in each state.
• The Supreme Court at the apex level that is located in New Delhi.

Q2. How is the work of the judiciary categorized?

Ans. The Judiciary is made up of courts that make judgements on a wide range of subjects. The judiciary’s activities can be classified into three categories: Dispute Resolution, Judicial Review, and Upholding the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights.

Q3. What do you understand by law?

Ans. Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior.

Q4. In what ways is the Supreme Court the guardian of Fundamental Rights?

Ans. The Supreme Court serves as a defender of fundamental rights by ensuring that people can exercise their rights in the appropriate manner. Every Indian citizen has the right to file a complaint with the Supreme Court or a High Court if they consider their Fundamental Rights have been violated.

Q5. India has an integrated judicial system. Explain 

Ans. We have an integrated legal system in India, which means that decisions made by higher courts are binding on lower courts. Another method to understand this integration is through India’s appellate system. This means that a person can file an appeal with a higher court if they consider the lower court’s decision is unjust.

Q6. India has an integrated judicial system. Explain

Ans.  The Indian judiciary is regarded as an autonomous institution for the following reasons:

• The legislative and executive branches of government are not permitted to interfere with the operation of the judiciary.
• The courts are independent of the government and do not operate on its behalf.

Q7. How is the work of the judiciary categorized?

Ans. The work that the judiciary does can be divided into the following:

• Dispute Resolution
• Judicial Review
• Upholding the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights

Q8. Write two sentences of what you understand about the appellate system.

Ans. This means that a person can file an appeal with a higher court if they consider the lower court’s decision is unjust. 

Q9.  What does judiciary mean?

Ans. The judiciary is the branch of authority in a country which is concerned with law and the legal system.

Q10. Mention the branches of the legal system.

Ans. The legal system in India is divided into two branches: Criminal Law and Civil Law.

 

 

Long Answer Questions (5 Marks)

Q1. What is an independent judiciary? Explain in brief. 

Ans. The Indian Constitution guarantees the judiciary’s independence. It means that other parts of government, such as the legislative and the administration, are not permitted to interfere with the work of the judiciary. The courts are independent of the government and do not operate on its behalf. The courts ensure that the legislative and the administration do not abuse their powers. Anyone can go to court if they believe their fundamental rights have been violated. As a result, no one, not even the wealthy and powerful, has any influence in the courts.

 

Q2. In principle, the courts are accessible to all. But what happens in reality?

Ans. In theory, every citizen has the right to seek justice through the courts. It is worth noting here that the courts play an important role in defending our Fundamental Rights. If any citizen believes that their Fundamental Rights have been violated, they may seek redress in court.

In reality, though, things are not the same. Poor people have traditionally had difficulty getting access to the courts. These folks are afraid to go to court because they know the legal procedures are time-consuming, confusing, and expensive. 

Q3. What is the ‘appellate system’?

Ans. An appellate court, also known as an appeals court or court of second instance, is any court of law that has the authority to hear an appeal from a trial court or other lower body. Most jurisdictions have at least three levels of court: the trial court, which hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate court; and a supreme court, which primarily reviews the intermediate courts’ decisions. The supreme court of a jurisdiction is the highest appellate court in that jurisdiction. Appellate courts across the country may follow different rules.

The ability of appellate courts to review lower court rulings varies greatly between jurisdictions. In some cases, the appellate court has limited review authority. “In general, an appellate court’s decision provides ‘the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed, setting out with specificity the court’s determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed, reversed, remanded, or modified.”

Q4. What is “Public interest Litigation”? 

Ans. A “Public Interest Litigation” (PIL) is a lawsuit brought in a court of law to preserve “Public Interest” such as pollution, terrorism, traffic safety, construction dangers, and so on.

PILs can be filed for a variety of reasons, including:

• Violation of the poor’s fundamental human rights
• Content or conduct of government policy
• compel municipal officials to execute a public function
• Violation of religious rights or other basic fundamental rights
• A PIL can be filed in the High Court or the Supreme Court by any individual or group on behalf of those whose rights are being violated. It is not required that the individual submitting the complaint has a direct stake in the dispute.

Q5. Describe Sudha Goel case. What judgements were given by different courts in this case?

Ans. Sudha Goel married Laxman Kumar in February 1980. She moved into her husband’s flat in Delhi, where she lived with him and other members of his family. On December 2, 1980. Sudha died at the hospital from burns. Her relatives filed a court case. Four of her neighbors were called as witnesses in this case when it was heard in the Trial Court. According to these witnesses, Sudha was tortured by her in-laws, who demanded more money, a scooter, and a refrigerator in exchange for the birth of the first kid. However, Laxman and his mother recounted a different narrative. Sudha’s sari had caught fire as she was boiling milk, according to them. 

On the basis of this and other evidence, the Trial Court convicted Laxman, his mother and his brother-in-law and sentenced all three of them to death.

The three defendants went to the High Court in November 1982 to appeal the Trial Court’s verdict. The High Court acquitted all three defendants. The Supreme Court heard the appeal against Laxman and two members of his family’s acquittal in 1985. The Supreme Court ruled Laxman and his mother guilty but acquitted his brother-in-law due to a lack of evidence. The accused were sentenced to life in prison by the Supreme Court.

Q6. What is the role of the judiciary?

Ans. Courts make rulings on a wide range of problems.

They can rule that no teacher can abuse a student, or that river flows should be shared between states, or they can punish. Persons for particular offenses. Broadly speaking, the work of the judiciary can be split into the following categories:

• Dispute Resolution: The legal system provides a framework for resolving issues between citizens, citizens and the government, two state governments, and the center and state governments.
• Judicial Review: As the last interpreter of the Constitution, the judiciary has the authority to overturn specific legislation approved by Parliament if it considers they violate the core framework of the Constitution. This is known as judicial review.
• Upholding the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights: Every citizen of India can approach the Supreme Court or the High Court if they believe that their Fundamental Rights have been violated.

Q7. Explain the structure of courts in India. 

Ans. In our country, there are three levels of court.

There are multiple courts at the lower level, but just one at the highest level. Most people’s favorite courts Subordinate or district courts are the courts with which you interface. These tribunals are typically located at the district or Tehsil level, or in towns, and they hear a wide range of cases. Every state is divided into districts, each of which is presided over by a District Judge. Each state has a High Court, which is the state’s highest court. The Supreme Court, which is based in New Delhi and is presided over by the Chief Justice of India, is at the apex. 

The decisions made by the Supreme Court are binding on all other courts in India.

Q8. Differentiate between criminal law and civil law. 

Ans.

Q9. In India does every citizen have access to the courts?

Ans. In principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this country. This implies that every citizen has a right to justice through the courts. If any citizen believes that their rights are being violated, then they can approach the court for justice to be done. While the courts are available for all, in reality access to courts has always been difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India. Legal procedures involve a lot of money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. For a poor person who cannot read and whose family depends on a daily wage, the idea of going to court to get justice often seems remote. 

In response, the Supreme Court established the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) mechanism in the early 1980s to enhance access to justice. It permitted any individual to file a PIL in the High Court or the Supreme Court on behalf of people whose rights were violated.

The legal process was substantially streamlined, and even a letter or telegram addressed to the Supreme Court or a High Court might be considered a PIL. In the early years, PIL was used to obtain justice on a wide range of matters, including rescuing bonded laborers from inhumane working circumstances and gaining the release of criminals in Bihar who had been imprisoned even after their sentence had expired.

Q10. Explain in brief about the Right to Livelihood?

Ans. The judgment of the Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation established the Right to Livelihood as part of the Right to Life. The following paragraphs from the judgment demonstrate how the judges linked the question of the Right to Life to the matter of livelihood:

The scope of Article 21’s Right to Life is broad and far-reaching. ‘Life’ refers to more than just animal life. It does not simply mean that life cannot be extinguished or taken away, as in the imposition and execution of the death penalty, unless done so in accordance with legal procedures. That is only one facet of the Right to Life. An equally important facet of that right is the right to livelihood because no person can live without the means of living, that is, the means of livelihood. The premise that evicting a person from a pavement or slum will necessarily result in the loss of his means of subsistence does not have to be shown in each particular case…. In this case, the facts constituting. The petitioners live in slums and on city streets because they have minor jobs as nurses in the city and have nowhere else to live, according to empirical evidence. They chose a pavement or a slum near their workplace, and losing the pavement or the slum means losing the job. The conclusion therefore is that the eviction of the petitioners will lead to deprivation of their livelihood and consequently to the deprivation of life.
 

Also See : 

• Class 8 Civics Chapter 1 The Indian Constitution Important Questions and Answers
• Class 8 Civics Chapter 2 Understanding Secularism Important Questions and Answers
• Class 8 Civics Chapter 3 Parliament and the Making of Laws Important Questions and Answers
• Class 8 Civics Chapter 4 Judiciary Important Questions and Answers
• Class 8 Civics Chapter 5 Understanding Marginalization Important Questions and Answers
• Class 8 Civics Chapter 6 Confronting Marginalization Important Questions and Answers

 
Also See: 

 

• Class 8 Social Science Lesson Explanation, Summary
• Class 8 MCQ Questions with Answers