According to the Constitution, every state of India should have a High Court as its highest Judicial Tribunal. The High Court of Assam is situated at Guwahati. It is also known as Gauhati High Court. It is to be noted that the High Court of Assam is shared by all the states of the North Eastern region of India, except Sikkim.
The State Secretariat (Assam Sachivalaya) is the nerve centre of Assam’s administration which include various functional departments and the Janata Bhavan (the Seat of Ministers). The local administration is based on the 23 districts and their sub-divisions. Each district is governed by a Deputy Commissioner who is the appointed head of the District’s Administration. Deputy Commissioner is also responsible to act as the District Magistrate, Revenue Collector, District Election Officer etc. In addition to civil and criminal courts, every district has its own police force which is headed by an appointed District Superintendent of Police.
A sub-division of district is headed by a Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) who also act as Sub-Divisional Magistrate. In each sub-division there are several Circles. A circle is composed of some ‘Mouzas’ and is headed by an appointed Circle Officer. A ‘Mouza’ is headed by an appointed ‘Mouzadar’ and is composed of villages and towns.
The state of Assam follows the system of ‘Panchayati Raj’ for decentralisation of powers. At present Assam has Three-tire Panchayati Raj System, namely- the ‘Gaon Panchayat’ at the Village level, the ‘Anchalik Panchayat’ at the Block Level and the ‘Jila Panchayat’ at the District level. The matters related to the Panchayat system of Assam are looked after by the State Directorate of Panchayat.