History

History of Alipurduar District Judicary

Alipurduar is the 20th district of the state of West Bengal. This sub-division was carved out from the district of Jalpaiguri to function as a separate district on 25th June in the year 2014.[1] This land-locked district, nestled in the foothills of the mighty Himalayas, on the banks of the Kaljani river, is the gateway to Bhutan and the northeast India. It is located in the lush green Dooars region renowned for its rich flora and fauna, dense forests like Jaldapara, Buxa, Chilapata, varied wildlife, valuable timber, extensive tea gardens and blissful scenic beauty surrounded by looming mountains and gushing streams and rivers like Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, Gadadhar, Kaljani etc, which thereby, makes this district a tourism hub of the state.

Alipurduar was named in the honour of the Colonel Hedayat Ali Khan who had rendered laudable service during the Bhutan war and was stationed here as the First Extra Assistant Commissioner.[2] The area was originally inhabited by aborigine tribes and castes like Rava, Garo, Mech, Toto, Dhimal, Koch and Rajbanshi etc

The history of Judicial system in Alipurduar dates back to the British Colonial era. It came to the light from a gazetteer of India, West Bengal, Jalpaiguri, that the powers of Munsiff was given to the SDO, Alipurduar in the year 1896. Subsequent thereto, the power was withdrawn from the executive wing and it was given to a special Munsiff for Alipurduar Subdivision in 1956. This marked the beginning of the judicial system in Alipurduar District. In 1968, the judiciary was separated from the executive and under the judiciary, the Munsiff Court was the first set up, established in Alipurduar Subdivision. Thereafter, on subsequent development, the subdivision of Alipurduar was carved out from the district of Jalpaiguri.

Finally, on the historic day of 29th April in 2023, the District Judgeship of Alipurduar was bifurcated from the District Judgeship of Jalpaiguri and Ld. District and Sessions Judge, Jalpaiguri, was in additional charge as Ld. District and Sessions Judge, Alipurduar and he took his seat at Alipurduar twice a week. Simultaneously, the Court of Ld. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-I, Alipurduar started to function as the Court of Ld. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipurduar and the Court of Ld. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-II was renamed as the Court of Ld. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate. Lastly, on 29th August in 2023, Alipurduar received it’s first permanent Ld. District and Sessions Judge. At present, altogether ten Courts, both Civil side and Criminal side, are functioning under District Judgeship of Alipurduar.

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[1] https://alipurduar.gov.in/history

[2] http://alipurduarzp.org/about_us.php