Background
The Kerala High Court's August 2026 judgment on Lakshadweep's pandaram land shows why the islands' court structure matters, and the Union Territory's own judicial setup page sets it out.
The Sub Court at Kavaratti was upgraded to a District and Sessions Court with effect from April 1997.
The Munsiff Court at Amini covers Amini, Agatti, Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat and Bitra islands.
The Munsiff Court at Andrott covers Kavaratti, Andrott, Minicoy and Kalpeni islands.
Both Munsiff Courts also function as Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class for their areas.
The Judicial Magistrate at Andrott holds the additional charge of Chief Judicial Magistrate.
Lakshadweep falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Kerala.
Kavaratti Sub Court upgraded:
April 1997
Munsiff Courts:
Amini and Andrott
Islands under Amini Munsiff Court:
Amini, Agatti, Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat, Bitra
High Court:
High Court of Kerala
Why it matters for exams: Which High Court covers Lakshadweep, and the fact that the territory's district court sits at Kavaratti while the Chief Judicial Magistrate sits at Andrott, are both precise, testable facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Munsiff Court Court of the Munsiff — The lowest civil court in the Kerala pattern of judicial hierarchy, trying suits of limited value.
CJM Chief Judicial Magistrate — The senior judicial magistrate of a district, supervising the magistrates below.
Background
The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. These two organs vote simultaneously but separately, and a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies, which sometimes makes several rounds of voting necessary. To ensure a degree of continuity, one third of the Court is elected every three years, and judges elected at a triennial election commence their term of office on 6 February of the following year. The Court then holds a secret ballot to elect a President and a Vice-President to hold office for three years. Candidates are proposed not by governments but by national groups of the members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration; each group may propose up to four candidates, no more than two of whom may be of its own nationality. The Court may not include more than one national of the same State, and as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague, making it the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York.
Judges on the Court:
15
Term of office:
Nine years
Elected every three years:
One third of the Court
Term begins:
6 February
Seat:
Peace Palace, the Hague
Why it matters for exams: The size of the bench, the double election by the Assembly and the Council, and the Hague seat are standard one-mark questions on international institutions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ICJ International Court of Justice — The United Nations court that settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions.
Permanent Court of Arbitration Permanent Court of Arbitration — A separate Hague body whose national groups nominate candidates for the ICJ bench.
16 October 2026
Anglian Water has been fined 1.6 million pounds after repeated sewage pollution of the River Brain over six weeks in 2022. Sitting at Cambridge magistrates' court on 14 October, district judge Timothy King also ordered the company to pay costs of 27,334 pounds and a 190 pound surcharge. The court heard that local mismanagement led to a general decline in water quality between April and June 2022, that the company ignored alarms telling it poorly treated sewage was being discharged into the river because of a faulty valve, and that staff did not talk to each other about the incidents. The resulting pollution stretched for nearly 14 km along the Brain between Braintree and Witham. Environment Agency monitors showed levels of toxic ammonia that were the highest recorded in the river over the previous ten years, and an investigation traced the source to Anglian Water's water recycling centre in Braintree, where a valve had been broken for a week before the first incident in April 2022. The Environment Agency charged the company with causing a discharge of untreated sewage into the River Brain outside its environmental permit between 13 April and 2 June 2022, and with failing to comply with the permit as a separate offence; the prosecution was brought under regulations 12(1)(a), 38(1)(a) and 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. In the 12 months to March, officers completed nearly 1,800 inspections of Anglian Water's wastewater sites, with more than 830 actions identified. Water companies in England have been successfully prosecuted by the Environment Agency more than 70 times since 2015, securing 169 million pounds in fines.
Fine:
1.6 million pounds
Costs and surcharge:
27,334 pounds in costs and a 190 pound surcharge
River and stretch polluted:
River Brain, nearly 14 km between Braintree and Witham
Offence period:
13 April to 2 June 2022
Court and date:
Cambridge magistrates' court, 14 October
Fines since 2015:
169 million pounds from more than 70 prosecutions
Why it matters for exams: This shows how a regulator enforces an environmental permit regime through criminal prosecution, a useful comparison for questions on pollution control boards and polluter pays.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Environment Agency Environment Agency — The English regulator that issues environmental permits to water companies and prosecutes breaches.
Environmental permit Environmental permit — A licence setting the conditions under which a facility may discharge into the environment; operating outside it is an offence.
16 October 2026
INTERPOL and the World Health Organization signed a cooperation agreement to tackle threats at the intersection of public health and security. The joint news release was issued from Geneva and Lyon. The agreement establishes a framework to combine INTERPOL's law enforcement expertise with WHO's public health leadership to prevent, detect and respond to risks worldwide. It focuses on exceptional situations needing coordinated health and security action, including incidents involving the suspected misuse of chemical or radioactive materials and unusual biological events, whether naturally occurring, accidental or deliberate. The two organizations will also coordinate around major international events and mass gatherings. A second area is tackling the trafficking of persons for the purpose of organ removal and the illegal trade in human organs, tissues and cells. The agreement further addresses illicit production and trade in goods affecting public health, including falsified medical products such as medicines, vaccines and medical devices, counterfeit personal protective equipment, unsafe or fraudulently labelled food and drink, and illegally produced alcohol. Cooperation will also support implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were quoted in the release. INTERPOL has 196 member countries and WHO works in 150 or more locations.
Organizations:
INTERPOL and the World Health Organization
Datelines:
Geneva and Lyon
INTERPOL member countries:
196
INTERPOL Secretary General:
Valdecy Urquiza
Treaty supported:
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Why it matters for exams: INTERPOL's membership figure, its headquarters at Lyon and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are all frequently asked institutional facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization — The world's largest international police organization, with 196 member countries and its headquarters at Lyon.
WHO FCTC WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control — The first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization, aimed at reducing tobacco use.
16 October 2026
The National Highways Authority of India successfully defended an arbitration claim relating to the six-laning of the 93.5 km Chittorgarh-Udaipur section of NH-76 in Rajasthan. A three-member Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes (SAROD) substantially upheld NHAI's position. The concessionaire, Uchit Expressway Private Limited, promoted by TRIL Roads Pvt. Ltd., had claims of Rs. 366.53 crore rejected, including a prolongation cost claim of Rs. 238.18 crore linked to COVID-19. Claims of Rs. 14.51 crore were allowed along with a conditional refund of Rs. 2.82 crore. The Tribunal awarded NHAI counter-claims of Rs. 33.54 crore as principal, made up of Rs. 27 crore for work dropped from the project scope, Rs. 4.03 crore for failure to maintain the highway and Rs. 2.51 crore for toll collected without authorisation after the project's completion date in March 2021.
Project length:
93.5 km
Highway:
NH-76, Chittorgarh-Udaipur section
Claims rejected:
Rs. 366.53 crore
COVID-19 prolongation claim rejected:
Rs. 238.18 crore
NHAI counter-claims awarded:
Rs. 33.54 crore
Why it matters for exams: SAROD is the sector-specific arbitration body for highway disputes, and the case shows how concession contracts and COVID-19 prolongation claims are settled.
UPSCBank
In plain words
SAROD Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes — A society set up to arbitrate disputes in highway concession and construction contracts.
Concessionaire Concessionaire — The private company that builds and operates a highway stretch under a concession agreement with NHAI.
14 October 2026
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. decided the matter on 14 October 2026.
The Bench quashed a State government order that had allowed Special Public Prosecutors appointed for POCSO cases to also conduct cases under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
The State has been directed to appoint Special Public Prosecutors exclusively for POCSO cases within six weeks.
The State must also decide, within four weeks of receiving the judgment, on setting up the remaining 13 permanent exclusive POCSO Special Courts, one in each district other than Ernakulam.
The case was a public interest litigation by the District Court Bar Association, Thodupuzha-Muttom, numbered WP(PIL) 75/2026 and reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 583.
The Court held that the government order conflicted with the Supreme Court's 2020 directions in In Re Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents.
Case number:
WP(PIL) 75/2026
Citation:
2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 583
Deadline for exclusive prosecutors:
six weeks
Additional POCSO courts to be considered:
13
Why it matters for exams: An examiner can ask this as a POCSO-and-Juvenile-Justice question, a Children's Court question, or as an example of a High Court directing the executive on prosecution machinery.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
POCSO Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 — The central law that defines sexual offences against children and provides for Special Courts to try them.
SPP Special Public Prosecutor — A prosecutor appointed by the State for a specified category of cases or for a particular case.