NCERT Solutions for Class 8th Social Science Chapter 11 The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
Justice is what keeps a society peaceful and lets people live with equality and dignity . The Judiciary is the institution which ensures fair adjudication of disputes in accordance with the law. It is one of the three pillars of the government, independent of the legislature and the executive. The government's way to ensure justice is by framing laws — but a law can itself be unjust. India has repealed over 1500 laws enacted under British rule, such as the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 and the Vernacular Press Act, 1878. Elsewhere, the Jim Crow laws in parts of the United States were repealed in the 1960s and apartheid laws in South Africa in 1991. Justice has two aspects. Substantive justice asks whether the final outcome is fair, just and reasonable. Procedural justice asks whether every per
- Chapter opener
- The Supreme Court of India
- High Court
- Subordinate Courts
- End of chapter
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where the chapter uses it | Fact to remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judiciary | The branch of the State that decides disputes in accordance with the law, independent of the legislature and the executive | LET’S REMEMBER, p. 127 | One of the three pillars of the government |
| Substantive justice | Justice judged by the final result — is the decision actually fair, just and reasonable? | Aspects of justice (Fig. 4.4), p. 129 | It looks at the outcome |
| Procedural justice | Every person involved gets a full opportunity of hearing before the court decides | p. 129 | Every person is presumed innocent till proved guilty |
| Writ petition | An application filed directly in a Constitutional Court to enforce a Fundamental Right | Writ Jurisdiction, p. 131 | Article 32 → Supreme Court; Article 226 → High Court |
| Public Interest Litigation (PIL) | A case filed to place an issue of public concern before the court, not a purely private grievance | PIL, p. 132 | An innovation of the Supreme Court, giving meaning to the Right to Life (Article 21) |
| Original jurisdiction | The power to hear a dispute first, not as an appeal | p. 132 | Article 131 — Centre v. State, and inter-State disputes such as river water disputes |
| Appellate jurisdiction | The power to hear an appeal against the decision of a lower court or tribunal | p. 133 | Articles 132, 133, 134 and 134A; appeals also lie from the NGT and NCLAT |
| Advisory jurisdiction | Giving the President the Court’s opinion on a question of law or fact of public importance | p. 133 | Article 143 — heard by a Constitution Bench of not less than five judges |
| Special Leave Petition | The Supreme Court’s extraordinary discretionary power to allow an appeal from any court or tribunal in India | p. 133 | Article 136 |
| Tribunal | A committee or body established to settle certain types of disputes | Tribunals, p. 136 | Quasi-judicial — NCLT, NGT, CAT, APTEL, Armed Forces Tribunal, Consumer Fora |
| Litigant | A person involved in a legal case — both the person who sues and the person who gets sued | p. 138 | Digital access now lets a litigant check the case directly, not only through a lawyer |
| Alternate dispute resolution | Settling a dispute without a full court trial | p. 139–140 | Arbitration, mediation/conciliation, negotiation, Lok Adalat, Gram Nyayalaya |
Exercises
- Chapter opener — The Big Questions Page 125
- Chapter opener, before ‘The Connection Between Law and Justice’ — LET’S EXPLORE Page 127
- The Supreme Court of India — DON’T MISS OUT Page 130
- High Court — LET’S EXPLORE Page 135
- Subordinate Courts — LET’S EXPLORE Page 136
- End of chapter — Questions and Activities Page 141–142