Bristish Judicial System in India

By the mid-eighteenth century, the British had a political presence in the three presidency towns of Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta which also saw the emergence of British judicial system in India.

The Mayor’s Court was established in 1727 for civil litigation in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. In 1772 an elaborate judicial system, known as adalat, established civil and criminal jurisdictions.

Both Hindu pandits and Muslim qazis (Sharia court judges) were recruited to aid the presiding judges in interpreting their customary laws, but in general, British common and statutory laws became applicable.

The two main theoretical principles underlying the entire British judicial system in India were the notions of the Rule of Law and Equality before law; thus as per theory no one was above the law (certain rules which defined the rights, privileges and obligations of the people) and all the citizens irrespective of their caste, class and other status, were now equal before law.

The principle of habeas corpus provided that no person could be arrested or kept in prison without a written order from the local executive or the judicial authority. Even the Government servant, if the acts done in their official capacity could be sued in the court of Law. The natural upshot of the Rule of Law was the Equality before the Law, which subsequently followed the Rule of Law.

The Equality before the Law appeared as novel feature in the caste-ridden Indian society. Under the Regulating Act of 1773 the King-in-Council created a Supreme Court in the Presidency town of Calcutta. Under the charter, the Supreme Court also had the authority to exercise all types of jurisdiction in the region of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, with the only caveat that in situations where the disputed amount was in excess of Rs. 4,000, their judgment could be appealed to the Privy Council at London.

The Supreme Courts in Madras and Bombay were finally established in 1801 and 1823, respectively. Lord Cornwallis separated the executive and judicial duties at district level. For the civil cases Sadar Diwani Adalat was the highest appealing body followed by the four Provincial Courts of Civil Appeal at Calcutta, Dacca, Murshidabad and Patna. Then at local levels District Courts, Registrars’ Courts and a number of Subordinate Courts were making the hierarchy.

A large number of magistrates were active to deal with criminal cases, above them were four Courts of Circuit at Calcutta, Dacca, Murshidabad and Patna which were governed by Sadar Nizamat Adalat at Calcutta. In 1831 William Bentinck abolished the four Provincial civil and criminal courts and redistributed their work to Commissioners and District Collectors.