Report No. 79

2.7. Confirmation procedure under the Divorce Act.-

Under the Indian Divorce Act, which applies to Christians, every decree for the dissolution of marriage made by a District Court, is subject to confirmation1 by the High Court, and section 17 of the Act requires such cases for confirmation to be heard by a bench of three judges, where the number of judges of the High Court is three or more, or by a bench of two judges where the number of judges of the High Court is two. Matrimonial jurisdiction in regard to Parsis is of a special category.2 A judge of the High Court presides over the Chief Parsi Matrimonial Court constituted under the Act in Presidency towns.

1. Section 17, Indian Divorce Act, 1869.

2. Sections 18 and 19, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936.

2.8. Revisions.-

Civil revisional1 and supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court is derived from several constitutional and statutory provisions, chief amongst these being Article 227 of the Constitution; section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908; section 25 of the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act, 1887 (or corresponding law) and section 75(1), proviso, of the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920. Against the decision of a High Court Judge in revision, there is no Letters Patent Appeal-a feature which under the existing law distinguishes revisional jurisdiction from decisions of a High Court Judge on first appeal.1

Criminal revisional jurisdiction is principally governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure.

1. Chapter 11, infra.

1. For history, see para. 2.12, infra.