Supreme Courts
Reference has already been made to the establishment of a Supreme Court in Calcutta, and its early history. In 1797 the number of judges was reduced to three. A Supreme Court, with similar powers, constitution and jurisdiction, was set up in Madras in 1801 and in Bombay in 1823.
In 1853, the jurisdiction of these courts was limited to (a) British born subjects, (b) persons residing within the boundaries of the three cities or having any dwelling-house and servants therein, and (c) all persons who were directly or indirectly in the service of the Company.
The law followed by these courts was the English law of 1726 as subsequently modified expressly with reference to India and the Regulations made by the Indian Government.
But as regards inheritance, succession and contract, Hindu laws and usages were to be applied to the Hindus, and Muslim laws and usages to Muslims.
An appeal lay from the decisions of these courts to the King-in-Council where the amount in dispute was above Rs. 4,000 (Rs. 3,000 in Bombay). The Statute of 1833 transferred the entire appellate jurisdiction of the King-in-Council to the newly consti- tuted Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which consisted of the President, the Lord Chancellor and other members, including two who held judgeships in the British dominions beyond the sea.
Finally we may refer to the two most notable landmarks in the judicial administration of India, viz. the codification of laws and the establishment of High Courts, the foundation of which was laid during the administration of the Company though the completion had to be deferred till India passed under the Crown.
The idea of a systematic code of law in place of varying laws and usages is traceable to an early period of British history. No less than five different bodies of statute law were in force in the British dominions, and the position was always regarded as extremely unsatisfactory.
The Charter Act of 1833 provided for their consolidation and codification, and accordingly a Law Commission was appointed in the year 1834. Macaulay, the leading spirit of the Commission, prepared a draft of the Indian Penal Code, but little was done after his departure, and the Commission was finally abolished.
The Charter Act of 1853 led to the appointment of a new Commission. It submitted plans for the creation of High Courts by the amalgamation of the Supreme Court and Sadar Diwani Adalat and also for a uniform code of civil and criminal procedure applicable to these High Courts and inferior courts of British India.
The recommendations were accepted and in 1861 the Indian High Courts Act authorised the establishment of a High Court in each of the following towns, namely Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras in place of the old Supreme Court and the Sadar Diwani Adalat which thus disappeared after nearly ninety years. In pursuance of the same policy, a High Court was established in Allahabad and a Chief Court in the Punjab in 1866.
Macaulay’s Penal Code was revised and passed into law in 1860, and a Code of Civil Procedure and a Code of Criminal Procedure were promulgated respectively in 1859 and 1861.
