THE JOURNEY OF INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM (PART-2)

Introduction:

In the last blog, we saw how our Indian Legal system took shape under British Raj right from 1600 till 1773. How the ‘Adaalat’ system did come into existence? How the demand was made for the ‘sound judicial system’ and how this demand was met? However, till 1773, the demand again arose for change in the Legal system for more detailed system and a more advanced approach to meet the needs of ever-changing society. This made British Raj pass the Charter of 1773.

Regulating Act of 1773:

The unrest that arose and various loopholes that were exposed in the existing Legal system were required to be solved and need was raised for a more advanced and peaceful judicial system. The Regulating Act of 1773 was passed to address the above mentioned issues. The Act was known mainly for two major changes that it made. First was, the Mayor’s Court that was established under the charter of 1726 was abolished and replaced by Supreme Court each Presidency Town of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. The second change was the separation of power between judiciary and executive. This meant judiciary was given independence to function as per their desire which in turn enabled them to handle cases more effectively.

The Regulating Act though very detailed did not contain provisions for the Adaalats system that functioned in Moufassils areas. So, to bring change in that system the Governor General of India- ‘Warren Hastings’ divided the Adaalats into “Moufassil Diwani Adaalat” and “Moufassil Foujdaari Adaalat”. In doing so Hastings bought to the table the first known bifurcation between Civil and Criminal Court.

Even though the Act of 1773 was very well-intentioned and detailed to bring an advanced legal system into scene, it was met with various criticism and shortcomings. It was very ill-planned and poorly executed so, it is evident here to note that in an attempt to bring harmony in the existing legal system, the Act, in turn, started the fire which created the rift between the Privy Council and Supreme Court. The rift went on for 7 years until it was put to bed in 1781. The second criticism that the Act faced was Britishers were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Now, whether it was an intentional or an innocent error by the draftsmen, no one had answer to that!

The system established in 1773 functioned for almost century before another major change was done into the legal system in 1858.

End of Dual judicial system:

The year 1858 proved a vital turning point in the history of the Indian legal system for pretty good reason. It was the year that Queen Victoria of England declared that India shall be colony of British Crown thus taking over absolute control over the administration of Indian Territory under the British Crown. This even included the judicial system in Indian soil. This meant the judicial system underwent a huge makeover under control of the British Crown. The Supreme Courts and the Sadar Adaalats were abolished and in their place - High Courts were established; initially at three Presidency towns and gradually to other places outside Presidency towns. This meant the dual court system was showed a way out and a unified court system was adopted for a single appeal system.

The High courts functioned under two sets of law - One for the Presidency towns and the second for the areas outside the presidency towns. This meant - when any person appeared before the high court, the court was under obligation to decide which law was to be applied for the said matter. This indeed created confusion while dealing with cases but it also gave our legal system a unified single appeal hierarchy. In the Indian subcontinent, the High Court acted as the highest court of appeal, and appeal from High Court went to the Privy Council in England.

This system of courts functioned for good 70+ years before a more federal approach was required in the legal system which gave way for enactment of Government of India Act, 1935.

Government of India Act, 1935:

This Act is regarded as one of the architects that shaped our Indian Legal system that we see today. The Supreme Court that functions today was heavily based on the Federal Court system that was established under this act.

This Act was enacted with one main object- to bring the federal system into the picture. The Federal Court was established in 1937. It was made the highest court of appeal in the Indian soil. Most of the matters from the High court that were appealed were heard in Federal Court. However, the Privy Council was still the highest in the Appeal tree. The Appeal from Federal Court was heard all the way before the Privy Council in England. The most noticing feature of this act was it didn’t strip High Court from its power and they still functioned with the same set of powers with the only exception now that they were not the highest court of appeal in Indian soil.

The Federal Court functioned till 1950 when they were finally abolished from India attaining full republic status and the Supreme Court coming into existence.

This was the full history of our Legal system right up to the establishment of the Supreme Court. I tried to explain how our history got shaped over time to be where it stands today.

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Till then Stay safe, stay healthy, OM SHANTI.