Section 126 — Rules to be subject to approval
A check before the rules take effect. Rules made under the foregoing provisions (§§ 122, 125) need the previous approval of the Government — the State Government of the State where the court whose procedure the rules regulate sits; or, if that court is not in any State, the Central Government. A High Court’s rules are not its word alone — the executive must approve them first.
How to read Section 126
Previous approval required
Rules made under §§ 122/125 are subject to the previous approval of the Government — approval must come before they have effect.
Whose — the State Government
The Government of the State in which the court whose procedure the rules regulate is situate.
Or the Central Government
If that court is not situate in any State (e.g. a Union Territory court), the Central Government’s previous approval instead.
The bare Act
Rules made under the foregoing provisions shall be subject to the previous approval of the Government of the State in which the Court whose procedure the rules regulate is situate or, if that Court is not situate in any State, to the previous approval of 12Central Government.
→ A check on the § 122/§ 125 rule-making: the executive (State or Central Government) must approve the rules before they take effect; they are then published (§ 127). “Foregoing provisions” = §§ 122 and 125.
1. The whole section was substituted by the A.O. 1937 for the old § 126. 2. “Central Government” was substituted by the A.O. 1950 for “Governor General”.
Key terms decoded
Rules made under § 122 (and, through it, § 125) — the High Courts’ rule-making power. § 126 gates them all.
Approval given in advance — the rules cannot take effect until the Government has approved them.
The approving authority is the State Government of the State where the court whose procedure is regulated sits.
The test points to the court the rules affect — its location fixes which Government approves.
Where the court is outside any State — e.g. in a Union Territory — the State route is unavailable.
The fallback approver for such courts (it replaced “Governor General” in 1950).
The picture — the approval gate
§ 126 puts an approval gate between rule and effect. However expert the High Court and its Committee, the rules must clear the executive’s prior approval — the State Government’s where the affected court sits, or the Centre’s where it lies outside any State — before they can be published and take force.
Section 126, part by part
Connected provisions
Section 126 is the approval gate of Part X. The rules a High Court frames under § 122 (and the other Courts under § 125), after the Rule Committee’s report (§ 124), must get the Government’s previous approval — and then be published (§ 127) to take force.