Administration: Police, Civil services, Judiciary

JUDICIARY

JUDICIARY
Keywords •
• Dichotomous outcome
o Justice became physically and psychologically
distant to the mass of Indian population
o But also SYSTEMATISED AND UNIVERSALISED,
with Codification of Laws under
Macaulay, instead of being arbitrarily
dependent on whims and fancies of the kings
and interpretations of qazi, mufti, elders and
Panchayats.
o Indians excluded from the Judicial apparatus
yet also confident in the superiority and
certainty of laws: Ex Pabna Agrarian league:
used legal machinery to get due under Act X of
1859
• Hastings: Diwani, Sadar Diwani, Faujdari, Nizamat
• Cornwallis Code; District Collector-separation of
powers; contempt for Indian laws; exclusion of Indians
from judicial apparatus;

Pre British Hindu legal disputes settled by elders and Panchayats

Muslims: qazis and Muftis
King acted as fountainhead of Justice
Overall arbitrary, not institutionalized
Warren Hastings 1. Civil: Diwani Adalat under District Collector; Sadar
Diwani Adalat for appeal; Muslim laws for muslims,
Hindu laws for Hindus
2. Criminal: Fauzdari Adalat; general supervision of
District Magistrate along with qazis and mufti; Muslim
laws applied; Sadar Nizamat Adalat: property
confiscation and capital punishment
3. Supreme Court: Regulating Act 1773: Both Indians and
Europeans in Calcutta; Original and Appellate
Jurisdiction (Appellate jurisdiction lost later)

Lord Cornwallis District(Zila)>> City>> Provincial Court>> Sadar Diwani

Adalat (both civil and criminal appellate)
 Effort at

1. Exclude Indians: ex Faujdari Courts functioning under

Naib Nazim Reza Khan abolished
2. Separate revenue admn and judicial

Cornwallis Code:

 Revenue administration and judicial administration not

to be vested in District Collector: Separation of powers,
rule of law; limit the authority of DC
 European Subjects brought under jurisdiction
 Officials and their actions within official capacities :
answerability
 Sovereignty of Law
 Denigrated Indian laws and jurisprudence, Cornwallis
looked at it with contempt
 Criminal courts:
o Fauzdari Adalat which was supervised by Indians
(Naib Reza Khan) was abolished and in its place
four Circuit courts with European judges
established. (DCs complained of anomalies of
criminal law that is why)
o Sadar Nizamat: shifted to Calcutta, directly
under Governor General's Council; but could
not try Europeans, only Supreme Court at
Calcutta could try Europeans in criminal matters
 Civil Courts
o Diwani Adalat: designated as District, City or
Zila Courts, District Collector not involved

Lord William Bentick • Circuit Courts abolished, functions transferred to

District collectors (ae lyo!!)
• Codification: 1833: Macaulay: Law member; though
proposals ready, Orientalist, Anglicist debate raged on,
only settled after the 1857 Revolt: therefore: Indian
Penal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure
• Sadar Diwani and Sadar Nizamat at Allahabad for
convenience of UP
• In courts, until now only Persian, now Persian and
vernacular
 • Supreme Court: English only

1860 • No special Privilege for Europeans except Criminal

cases
• Indian Judges cannot try Europeans

1865 • Supreme Court and Sadar Adalats merged into the

three High Courts of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta

1935 • Federal Court envisaged

POLICE
 Civil Services
 Why exclude Indians from Administration?
 Loyalty of British officers
 Inability of Indians to fulfill interests of British colonialism
 White Man's Burden: belief in racial superiority
 Indians naturally sympathy for Indians
 Reserve lucrative posts for influential families of Britain

Complete exclusion to gradual Indianisation. Actual push for

Indianisation was increase in area to be governed and increased
responsibilites for ex under Bentick-District collector again had
responsibility of judical administration.
Several entry barriers like examination in London, Greek and latin
language courses, age limit arbitrarily changed-reduced to 19 years by
Lytton.
Yet beginning from Satyendranath Tagore, Indians the strongest pillar of
steel frame that eff
 1858-1919: Benevolent Despotism
 1919 onwards: Gradual transfer of power
 Reforms, Indianisation, 1885 Congress goals
 Steel frame
 Cornwallis, Aitchison, Lee
Lord Cornwallis Reform and systematised
 Highest paid salary
 No private trade
 No bribery
 Promotion on Seniority
Charter Act of Positions above £500 in Covenanted barred for Indians
1793
Wellesley  Importance of training
 Fort William College; but fear of shifting loyalties so transferred to
Haileysbury
Charter 1833 Increased area
Increased responsibilities: judicial functions back for ex; so need
Indianisation push
 Charter Act of 1833: Limited Competition amongst those already
nominated
Charter Act of Open Competition; ending nomination patronage
1853 In effect open to Indians, but exam in London, age limit and also
Classical Greek, Latin and so on; so in effect barred
Indian Civil
Services Act
1861
1863 Satyendranath Tagore; first!!
Indian Charter Act of 1853 theoretically made CS open to any natural born
Statutory under the empire but effectively barred for Indians.
Commission Therefore, COMPROMISE FORMULA
Lytton ji ka karamat: ISC
th
 1/6 of covenanted
 Usually for families of aristocratic background
 Based on nominations of local bodies and conditional on the
approval from Viceroy
Abolished after Aitchison Recommendation
Congress in Demands for Indianisation of Administration
1885
So,  End the Covenanted Uncovenanted distinction
1886:  Abolish Indian Statutory Services
Aitchison  Imperial CS: London Exam
Commission  Provincial: Indian
 Subordinate: Indian
 Age limit-23
1893  Simultaneous examination but never really implemented
Resolution
GOI Act of  SEPARATE not SIMULTANEOUS recruitment examination for ICS
1919 to be held in India
 First such 1921: Allahabad
 Therefore by 1941, Indian officers outnumbered
Lee  Expedite estb of Public Service Commission envisaged in GOI
Commission 1919
1924  Allow transferred subject recruitment by provinces
 50-50 parity Indian Europeans in direct recruitment
GOI Act of FPSC, PPSC
1935
POLICE
 Friction between relying on traditional institutions
like faujdar-amils, or a modern Ideal like Charles
Napier’s Sind model based on Irish policing or a
synthesis devised by Cornwallis where Thana system
was revived and modernised
 Notable efforts: Ending Thuggee efforts of Sleeman
 Overall traditional hierarchies
 Zamindari-dacoity—police nexus, caste and class
hierarchies
 Not People’s police or servants
 Maintaining and sustaining British rule
Pre Mughal and Mughal Kotwal: cities
Faujdars
Amils: revenue collection + contend with rebels
Warren Hastings Revived Faujdars; entrusted policing responsibility with
Zamindars with help of Faujdars
Zamindar-dacoits nexus
Lord Cornwallis  Abolish policing function of zamindars
 Old and new synthesis: modernised the older thana
system
 THANAS for circles under Darogas
 Zamindar Daroga nexus
Lord Mayo  Superintendent of Police along with goyendas: spies
Lord William Bentick  Sabkuch District Magistrate se hi karwa lo!
 So (like judicial role back), policing supervision also
with DC
 Abolished Superintendent of Police ka position
 Badly organised police force, law and order Issues
Police Commission, Indian  Civil Constabulary: village should maintain
Police Act 1861 traditional institutions of policing ex village
watchmen but in direct relationship with regular
constabulary
 Three tiered
o Province IG
o Range DIG
o Districts SP
1902 Police commission recommendation
CID Provinces
CIB Centre
 Military
Charles Wood Let the army men be so alienated from each other, that if one regiment
to Lord rebels, the other might readily fire it down
Canning
Pre 1857 Queen’s Army: Europeans
Company troops: Native and Europeans
Post 1857 Dufferin’s reminder to never foget the lessons of 1857
reorganisation
1. Army of Occupation: British vs Army of Expansionism: India (Burma
for ex)
2. 1/3rd White Army, previously only 14%
3. European Indian Ratio maintained
a. 2:1 Bengal
b. 2:5 Madras and Bombay
4. Control over strategic departments and geographical regions of
European troops (ex artillery, tanks)
5. Inferior weapons to Indian officers
6. Indians not allowed in higher echelons; Until 1914: only level of
Subehdars
7. Sandhurst Commission: envisaged 50% Indians by 1952
8. Balance and Counterpoise: martial race vs non martial; major
percentage recruitment from Sikhs, Gorkhas etc.
a. Loyal during 1857
b. Socially marginal groups
9. Distance from national events: newspapers, journals etc not
allowed
10.Caste regiments