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Evolution Of Adalat System In India

By Divya | Views 10230 (author-457-divya.html)

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The Adalat System was introduced by Warren Hastings in Calcutta. The

visionaries had an idea to establish an efficient judiciary and as a first stem
they formulated this Adalat system which paved way to our present judicial
system after undergoing various modifications. The Evolution of Adalat
System and the Judicial Plans of 1772 and 1774 will be explained elaborately
in the article.

The History Behind the Evolution of the Adalat System:

The British East India Company acquired the areas of Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa. They acquired the diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. During the
period of the Mughal rule, they categorized the areas into divisions called as
Suba and appointed two officials. The Nawab was the official who had the
power to perform administrative and military functions.

The second official is Diwan who had the power to collect revenue. Since the
company had acquired the areas of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa they gradually
acquired the diwani rights and also took over the administrative power.
Initially they appointed an Indian to acquire diwani but it had some defects so
the company took over the right of acquire Diwani. They created a new term
called as Mofussil's to address the areas located near the presidency towns.

The Reasons which induced Britishers to create a New Judicial Setup:

Due to absence of a proper governance system the local leaders and
zamindars took power in their hands and started to act as able administrators
The Kazi courts which were in existence handled civil and criminal started
detoreiating in the way they handled cases
The Company servants started to act in improper manner by indulging in
corruption during collection of taxes from peasants.

The Judicial plan of 1772:

The Judicial plan of 1772 developed by Warren Hastings introduced the
concept of Adalat System. The Judicial plan of 1772 divided the areas of
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa into several districts. As per the Judicial plan of 1772
the divided districts were appointed with a collector in charge of the
administration work. The company servants were appointed as Collectors.

The Collectors were granted the power to collect revenue and were also
empowered the authority to serve as justice in courts and grant justice. The
1772 Plan was drafted by Warren Hastings and he was a able administrator
the plan of 1772 introduced the Adalat system and the judicial powers were
being separated from the Zamindars.

Explanation of The Judicial plan of 1772:

Small Cause Courts:
The small cause courts were located in every village or pergunnah and dealt
with small or petty cases. The courts had a jurisdictional capacity to handle
cases up to the value of Rs:10. These courts were headed by the head of the
village or the head farmer of the respective village.

Mofussil Diwani Adalat Courts:

The Mofussil Diwani Adalat Courts were to established in each & every district
and handled importantly revenue and civil cases. These courts particularly
addressed matters like marriages disputes, inheritance and disputes relating
to partition, castes disputes, debt issues and disputes related to loans &their
repayment, contracts disagreements, property and partnership disputes.

These courts were equipped with the jurisdictional authority to handle cases
of having value up to Rs 500 and in such cases, appeals were not allowed.
Collector of the district presided as the judge of this court and he was assisted
by native law officers such as the Kazis and Pundits. The Kazis and Pundits
used to assist the judge or the collector when they did not have knowledge
about the personal laws of the Hindus and Muslims.

Mofussil Nizamat Adalat Courts:

These Mofussil Nizamat Adalat Courts were also called as Fauzdari Adalat's.
These courts were established in each and every district but dealt exclusively
in criminal cases. The Mofussil Nizamat Adalat Courts did not have the
jurisdictional power to grant death sentences or equipped with the power to
forfeit accused property. In the earlier mentioned instances, they required the
approval of Sadar Diwani Adalat courts for final orders.

These Mofussil Nizamat Adalat Courts were presided only by the Muslim law
officers. The Moulvi as a law officer used to expound the law, while the Kazi as
a law officer and the Mufti as a law officer used to give Fatwa and render the
judgment accordingly. But alongside these officers of law, collectors played
the role of a supervisor. He made sure that all the necessary witnesses were
being heard and all the cases were tried regularly and that the judgments
were impartial.

Sadar Diwani Adalat Courts:

Sadar Diwani Adalat Courts were considered to be the apex court to address
all civil disputes in the province. These courts were equipped with the
authority to have original as well as appellate jurisdiction. These Courts heard
appeals from Mofussil Diwani Adalat Courts. These courts were equipped with
the authority to hear matters involving dispute of over Rs 500.
These Courts levied a charge of five percent of the amount of dispute on the
concerned petition or appeal. Adar Diwani Adalat Courts were presided by the
governor and his council. Sadar Diwani Adalat Court was established in the
presidency town of Calcutta. The Court had its first trial on 17th March, 1773.

Sadar Nizamat Adalat Courts:

Sadar Nizamat Adalat Court was the apex court for providing justice in
criminal cases in the province. These Courts have the authority to deal in both
original as well as appellate jurisdiction.

These Courts have the final authority to decide over cases of death sentence
and forfeiture of property. In cases of death sentence, the death warrant was
drafted by the Sadar Nizamat Adalat Court and it was to be signed by the
Nawab as the head of the Nizamat providing his approval.

This court was presided over by Daroga-I-Adalat who used to perform the
duties since he was the judge of this courtroom. He was being assisted
through a chief Kazi, the chief Mufti and 3 Moulvies. It was very much similar
to Mofussil Nizamat Adalat, there was a supervisory authority in the position
of the of Governor-in-Council who used to maintain a and monitor over the
functioning of this court. It was earlier established in Calcutta but
subsequently later shifted to Murshidabad, where the Nawab resided, so that
they can lessen the time and energy which is used there to get his signature in
instances of death sentences.

The cases irrespective of being civil or criminal in nature were heard in open
courts. This mechanism instilled a sense of assurance in the minds of people
that transparency was maintained and also greatly ensured in maintaining the
peoples trust over the judicial authority. The Adalat courts were established
either at the district level or lower level and they maintained records of cases
heard and decided such that the same were to be sent the Sadar Adalat's.

Establishment Of Updated Civil And Criminal Procedures And Laws:

In civil cases the procedure was the plaintiff must file a petition as a complaint
and upon the complaint the defendant must file a reply and after this stage
the Adalat Court will hear the matters. The parties will be examined and the
evidences will be inspected and as a last step the decree will be passed by the
Court.

The Court will only entertain cases which have not exceeded more than 12
years from the date of dispute. There was a system of arbitration to assist the
functions of the civil court. In criminal cases the case of criminal procedure is
similar to civil cases. To reduce dacoity very strict laws were made. Mutilation
is an important form of punishment given to accused persons and this
punishment was disliked by Warren Hastings.

Defects of the 1772 Plan:

Inadequate quantity of courts at village degree (small causes courts) &
attention of an excessive amount of power in the duty of collector were the
defects of the 1772 plan.
Judicial Plan of 1774:
The Defects of the judicial plan of 1772 were rectified in the new judicial plan
made in 1774.

The collectors were being replaced by the Amils or Diwans who were
appointed in each district. The role of the Amils or Diwans was to perform the
duty of a revenue collector as well as judge of Mofussil Diwani Adalat.

The territory of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa was further more divided into six
divisions. With the headquarters located at Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Calcutta,
Patna and Dacca. And every division had several districts under its command.

A Provincial Council made up of 4-5 covenanted servants of the company was formulated in
each and every divisions & they had the following duties:
To Supervise revenue collection: They were to supervise the collection of
revenue by the Amils.
To provide justice to appeals from Mofussil Diwani Adalat.
The Provincial Council had an original jurisdiction and used to act as court of
first instance.

This system proved to be beneficial as an appeal system was created close to

district Adalat's and thus supervision of the working of district judges was
possible which was not in the previous case of governor and council.

Conclusion:
The Adalat System was a very effective system in plan but in its
implementations, there was more confusions regarding the superior
authority. The legal professionals lacked expertise and caused delay in
providing verdicts which was its major drawback.

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