Section 130 — Power of other High Courts to make rules as to matters other than procedure
The companion to § 129. Where § 129 gives the original-side High Courts a free hand over their own procedure, § 130 lets the other High Courts — with the previous approval of the State Government — make rules on matters other than procedure, of the kind a superintending High Court may make under Article 227, for territory outside a presidency town.
How to read Section 130
The other High Courts
It addresses a High Court not within § 129 — i.e. one without the original-side Letters-Patent power. §§ 129–130 split the High Courts into two camps.
Needs State approval
Unlike § 129’s “as it thinks fit”, this power runs only with the previous approval of the State Government — a real gate.
Not procedure
Its subject is any matter other than procedure — the kind of rule a superintending High Court may make under Article 227, for territory outside a presidency town.
The bare Act
1[A High Court [not being a High Court to which section 129 applies]2 may, with the previous approval of the State Government, make with respect to any matter other than procedure any rule which a High Court [for a 4 State]3 might under [article 227 of the Constitution]5 make with respect to any such matter for any part of the territories under its jurisdiction which is not included within the limits of a presidency town.]
1 Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for s. 130.
2 Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for “not constituted by His Majesty by Letters Patent”.
3 Subs., ibid., for “so constituted”.
4 The word and letter “Part A” omitted by the Adaptation of Laws (No. 2) Order, 1956.
5 Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for “section 224 of the Government of India Act, 1935”.
In short: a High Court that is not a § 129 (original-side) Court may, with the State Government’s prior approval, frame non-procedural rules of the kind permitted by the superintendence power (Art. 227), for areas outside a presidency town.
How the wording reached its present form
Key terms decoded
The other High Courts — those without § 129’s original-side (Letters-Patent) rule power. §§ 129–130 divide all High Courts into two camps.
§ 130’s subject is the non-procedural residue. Procedure is handled by §§ 122 / 129; this power reaches the rest.
A gate: these rules take effect only with the State Government’s prior sanction — unlike § 129’s unfettered “as it thinks fit”.
The High Court’s power of superintendence over subordinate courts. § 130 lets these courts make rules of the kind a superintending High Court could. (Replaced s. 224 of the GoI Act, 1935.)
Historically Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. § 130’s rules apply to territory outside these limits — the mofussil.
The administrative and judicial oversight a High Court exercises over the courts below it — the source of the rule-type § 130 permits.
The picture — the other High Courts’ non-procedure power
§ 130 completes the High-Court pair: § 129 for the presidency Courts over their own procedure; § 130 for the other Courts over non-procedural matters — but only through the State Government’s gate, and only in the mofussil.
Part by part — the one sentence, limb by limb
A High Court [not being a High Court to which section 129 applies]…
The holder is a High Court outside § 129 — one without the original-side Letters-Patent power. The two sections cover complementary sets of Courts.
…may, with the previous approval of the State Government, make…
The power is conditional: it operates only with the State Government’s prior approval — a check absent from § 129.
…with respect to any matter other than procedure any rule…
Its field is the non-procedural residue — expressly not procedure, which §§ 122 / 129 already cover.
…which a High Court [for a State] might under [article 227 of the Constitution] make with respect to any such matter…
The rule must be of the kind a High Court could make under its Article 227 superintendence — the measure of what is permitted.
…for any part of the territories under its jurisdiction which is not included within the limits of a presidency town.
It reaches only the mofussil — territory outside a presidency town (Calcutta / Madras / Bombay).
How it connects — § 129 and § 130 together
One pair, two complementary High-Court powers
Read side by side, §§ 129–130 divide rule-making by court-type and subject-matter.
Connected provisions
Section 130 is the twin of § 129: it picks up the High Courts that § 129 leaves out, and gives them a non-procedural rule power — gated by State-Government approval and measured by the Article 227 superintendence power.