Steps to Remove the Parallel System of Jurisdiction

The first attempt to bridge the gulf between these two systems was made in 1813 when by an Act of Parliament, the  Company's Courts were vested with civil jurisdiction over the Europeans in suits brought against them by Indians. But the privilege was only partly attacked since the Act gave Europeans a distinct right of appeal to the Supreme Court instead of the Sudder Court to which an appeal lay in the ordinary course. This invidious right itself was taken away by Act XI of 1836, commonly known as the Black Act. Till 1813 European residents in India were subject to the criminal jurisdiction of only the Crown Courts in the presidency towns. By the Act of that year (53GEO.III.c.155) magistrates in the provinces were empowered to act as Justice of Peace and to have jurisdiction over the European British subjects outside the presidency towns in certain criminal  cases. This authority was gradually extended by the subsequent legislation.

                     Another step towards amalgamation was the establishment, throughout the country, of a uniform system of laws. The codification and simplification of law was one of the greatest reforms effected during this period. The East India Company began by attempting to govern Indians by Indian law and Englishmen by English law but the system broke down for three reasons. In the first place there was difficulty of ascertaining the exact nature on Indian law. Secondly, even where it could be ascertained, it often embodied rules which were repugnant to the ideas and traditions underlying  the English legal system. Thirdly, Indian law was deficient; there were large and important branches of law, such as law of contract, tort, trust, etc for which it supplied insufficient or no guidance. From an early time, therefore there began to grow in India a large body of Anglo-Indian case law and Regulations of the legislatures amending and supplementing Indian laws. Many of their earlier Regulations were directed at removing some of the defects of the Mohamedan criminal jurisprudence. In 1780 the government of Bengal issued a Code of Regulations for the administration of justice and the following year a revised code was issued. Warren Hastings' plan of 1772, which directed that in civil suits regarding marriage,inheritance, etc  the court should follow the personal laws of the parties, was recognised and confirmed by the amending Act of 1781. A Bengal regulation of 1832 provided that in a civil suit the parties to which were of different religions, the laws of their religion shall not be permitted to operate to deprive such party or parties, of any property of which, but for the operation of such laws, they would have been entitled. The principle of Bengal Regulation was extended throughout British India by the Lex Loci Act of 1850 which declared that no person shall beliable to forfeiture of his rights, property, or inheritance, by reason merely of being excluded from his religion or caste. The Bombay Regulations gave precedence to local usage over the written Hindu and Mohamedan law in the determination of civil rights. The same principle was subsequently applied to Punjab by the Punjab Laws Act of 1872. In 1833 the attention of British Parliament was drawn to the unwieldy, confusing, and obscure state of law in British India. The Charter Act of 1833 directed the Governor-General to appoint an Indian law commission to inquire into and report on the state of laws and administration of justice in British India. The work of the Indian law commission of 1834 fell mainly on Lord Macaulay, and the first subject taken up was the preparation of a Code of Penal law. The draft was completed in 1838 but it was not till 1860 that it was passed into law. Two more commissions were appointed, one in 1853 and another in 1861, whose labours resulted in the preparation of several codes of substantive laws and procedure which were, in due course, placed on the statute book and made applicable to all courts and persons throughout British India, superseding the native Indian law on the subjects to which they related. The first edition of the Code of Civil Procedure was passed in 1859, followed by the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1861. These were supplemented by the Indian Succession Act 1865, the Hindu Wills Act 1870, the Evidence and Contract Act 1872, the Specific Relief Act 1877, the Negotiable Instrument Act 1881, the Transfer of Property Act and Indian Trust Act 1882, the Limitation Act 1908, etc. Substantially, the entire criminal law of India was codified, but the codification of civil laws was far from complete. There were three difficulties which stood in the way of codification of Hindu and Mohamedan laws. In the first place great portions of these laws were believed to be of more or less divine origin and legislative interference with them was regarded as being politically dangerous. Secondly, codification would have stereotyped rules which, under the silent influence of social and political forces, were in the process of change. Thirdly, there was no single body of Hindu law that was generally recognised; it differed in different provinces, and was often modified by local or family customs.