A History of Assam c23.22

c23.22

Nowgong and the Dibrugarh frontier tract in Lakhimpur By orders issued under this Regulation the tracts in question have been excluded from the operation of the enactments relating to criminal procedure,* stamps, court-fees, registration and transfer of property; and a simpler system of administrating justice in civil and criminal matters has been prescribed by rules framed under the Scheduled Districts Act. In these tracts the Head of the Local Government is the chief appellate authority in civil and criminal cases, and the High Court possesses no jurisdiction except in criminal cases against European British subjects; the Deputy Commissioner exercises the combined powers of Judge and District Magistrate, and the Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners the powers of magistrates and munsifs; petty cases, both civil and criminal, are dealt with by village tribunals, presided over by headmen chosen by the people themselves, whose procedure is free from all legal technicalities.