(1) The State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, invest any court inferior in grade to a District Judge with power to exercise the functions of a District Judge under this Part.
(2) Any inferior court so invested shall, within the local limits of its jurisdiction, have concurrent jurisdiction with the District Judge in the exercise of all the powers conferred by this Part upon the District Judge, and the provisions of this Part relating to the District Judge shall apply to such an inferior court as if it were a District Judge:
Provided that: an appeal from any such order of an inferior court as is mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 384 shall lie to the District Judge, and not to the High Court, and that the District Judge may, if he thinks fit, by his order on the appeal, make any such declaration and direction as that sub-section authorises the High Court to make by its order on an appeal from an order of a District Judge.
(3) An order of a District Judge on an appeal from an order of an inferior Court under the last foregoing sub-section shall, subject to the provisions as to reference to and revision by the High Court and as to review of judgment of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), as applied by section 141 of that Code, be final.
(4) The District Judge may withdraw any proceedings under this Part from an inferior court, and may either himself dispose of them or transfer them to another such court established within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the District Judge and having authority to dispose of the proceedings.
(5) A notification under sub-section (1) may specify any inferior court specially or any class of such courts in any local area.
(6) Any Civil Court which for any of the purposes of any enactment is subordinate to, or subject to the control of, a District Judge shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be a court inferior in grade to a District Judge.
State Amendment
Karnataka Amendment of Central Act 39 of 1925.- In the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Central Act 39 of 1925) as in force in the State of Karnataka, section 388 shall be omitted. [Vide Karnataka Act 28 of 1978, s. 4].
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 388
Section 388 empowers the State Government to invest inferior civil courts (Civil Judges / Sub-Judges) with the jurisdiction of the District Court under Part X, regulating appellate forums.
Under sub-section (2), where an inferior court is so invested, it exercises concurrent jurisdiction with the District Court. Crucially, sub-section (2) Proviso regulates the appellate hierarchy: an appeal from an order of an inferior court invested under this section lies to the DISTRICT JUDGE, not directly to the High Court under Section 384. A further revision lies to the High Court under Section 115 CPC.
Section 388 governs appellate jurisdiction in practice. Because nearly all succession certificate petitions in India are heard by Civil Judges invested under Section 388 rather than the District Judge in person, an appeal against an order granting or refusing a certificate must be filed before the District Judge under Section 388(2), NOT before the High Court under Section 384.