British judicial administration evolved gradually from:
Company-controlled courts → Regulated judicial system → High Courts → Codified colonial judiciary.
The British sought to establish:
The evolution is mainly associated with:
Warren Hastings → Cornwallis → Bentinck → Dalhousie → Crown Rule.
Judicial reforms became necessary because of:
Before major British reforms:
Mughal and regional systems of justice continued to operate.
The Company gradually acquired:
The acquisition of:
Diwani rights in 1765
was a major turning point.
After acquiring Diwani:
The Company became responsible for revenue administration and civil justice in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
This created the need for:
A formal Company judicial structure.
Warren Hastings reorganised the judicial system in:
His reforms created:
The:
Diwani Adalat
dealt mainly with:
At the district level:
District Diwani Adalats
were established.
They dealt with:
Civil justice.
The:
Faujdari Adalat
dealt primarily with:
Criminal cases.
Initially, Indian officials such as:
Qazis and Muftis
played important roles in criminal justice.
The:
Sadar Diwani Adalat
was the highest civil court under the Company's judicial structure.
It heard:
Appeals from lower civil courts.
The:
Sadar Nizamat Adalat
was the highest criminal court under the early Company system.
It dealt with:
Serious criminal appeals and supervision.
Warren Hastings followed a policy of:
Respecting personal laws in matters involving religion and social customs.
For Hindus:
Hindu law.
For Muslims:
Islamic law.
These were interpreted through:
Pandits and Maulvis.
Lord Cornwallis introduced major judicial reforms during:
1787–1793.
His objective was:
Establish a more systematic and professional judiciary.
Cornwallis gradually attempted to:
Separate judicial functions from revenue administration.
However:
The District Collector continued to hold substantial administrative authority.
The reforms of:
1793
are commonly associated with:
Cornwallis Code.
It reorganised:
Cornwallis strengthened the role of:
District Judges.
They became important authorities in:
Civil judicial administration.
Cornwallis established:
Provincial Courts of Appeal.
These functioned between:
District courts and Sadar courts.
For criminal justice:
Circuit Courts
were established.
They dealt with:
Serious criminal cases.
Higher judicial offices were largely reserved for:
Europeans.
This created:
Racial inequality in judicial administration.
Indians continued to serve in:
Important positions included:
Munsifs and Sadr Amin.
A:
Munsif
was a subordinate civil judge.
Indians were increasingly employed in:
Lower-level judicial administration.
The:
Sadr Amin
was a higher-level Indian judicial officer.
He exercised:
Civil judicial authority below the higher British courts.
Cornwallis emphasised:
The:
Regulating Act of 1773
provided for establishment of:
Supreme Court at Calcutta.
It began functioning in:
The Supreme Court consisted of:
A Chief Justice and other judges appointed by the British Crown.
The Court exercised:
Its jurisdiction primarily extended over:
The Presidency town of Calcutta and certain persons connected with the Company.
A major problem was:
Conflict between the Supreme Court and the Governor-General's administration.
The Court sometimes interpreted its jurisdiction broadly.
This created:
Constitutional and administrative disputes.
The:
Act of Settlement, 1781
was passed to:
Clarify and restrict the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
It reduced conflicts between:
Supreme Court and Company administration.
Cornwallis continued restructuring:
Lord William Bentinck introduced:
Further judicial and administrative reforms.
His objective was:
Reduce expenditure and simplify administration.
Bentinck abolished:
Circuit Courts.
Their functions were transferred to:
District-level judicial authorities.
Bentinck sought:
Bentinck expanded:
Opportunities for Indians in subordinate judicial administration.
Indians could hold:
Bentinck encouraged:
Greater use of Indian vernacular languages in lower courts.
This helped make:
Judicial proceedings more accessible to Indians.
Over time:
English increasingly replaced Persian
in higher administrative and judicial contexts.
This was connected with:
Broader Anglicisation of colonial administration.
The:
Indian High Courts Act, 1861
provided for creation of High Courts.
High Courts were established in:
in:
The High Courts replaced:
This created:
A more unified superior judicial structure.
High Courts exercised:
The High Courts formed part of:
The judicial structure of Crown administration.
They strengthened:
Centralised legal institutions.
A major feature of British judicial administration was:
Codification of Indian laws.
The objective was:
The first Law Commission was established in:
Its first chairman was:
Thomas Babington Macaulay.
Macaulay contributed significantly to:
Codification of criminal law.
The process eventually produced:
Indian Penal Code.
The:
Indian Penal Code (IPC)
was drafted under the influence of the first Law Commission.
It was enacted in:
It came into force in:
The British developed:
Codified civil procedures.
The objective was:
Standardised civil litigation.
Criminal procedure was also gradually:
Codified and standardised.
This created:
More uniform criminal justice.
The:
Indian Evidence Act, 1872
created a common framework for:
Rules of evidence in courts.
British judicial administration encouraged development of:
A professional legal class.
Lawyers became increasingly important in:
The legal profession produced important nationalist leaders.
Examples include:
Many nationalist leaders had:
Legal or professional backgrounds.
The colonial judiciary was not fully independent in the modern democratic sense.
The judicial system ultimately operated within:
The framework of colonial executive authority.
European judges generally occupied:
Higher judicial positions.
Indians were concentrated in:
Subordinate judicial posts.
This created:
Racial inequality in access to judicial authority.
The:
Ilbert Bill controversy of 1883
concerned the ability of:
Indian judges to try European British subjects.
European opposition revealed:
Strong racial prejudice within colonial society.
The controversy demonstrated:
The British continued to recognise:
Hindu and Muslim personal laws
in areas such as:
Over time:
Codified secular laws increasingly expanded.
Colonial courts played an important role in:
This strengthened:
Legal enforcement of colonial property relations.
Revenue disputes became:
A major category of colonial litigation.
The judiciary helped enforce:
Land revenue demands and property arrangements.
British courts enforced laws relating to:
Judicial institutions therefore became:
Instruments for implementing social legislation.
The judiciary helped the British:
British judicial administration introduced or strengthened:
The colonial judicial system suffered from:
The judicial system contributed to:
Lawyers became:
One of the most important groups in the nationalist movement.
The legal system provided:
A common institutional framework for political and constitutional debate.
Warren Hastings' judicial reorganisation.
↓
Regulating Act + Supreme Court.
↓
Act of Settlement.
↓
Cornwallis judicial reforms.
↓
First Law Commission.
↓
Indian Penal Code.
↓
High Courts.
↓
Indian Evidence Act.
Supreme Court at Calcutta was established by Cornwallis.
❌ Incorrect.
It was established under:
Regulating Act, 1773.
It began functioning in:
High Courts were created in 1774.
❌ Incorrect.
High Courts were established in:
Indian Penal Code was enacted in 1858.
❌ Incorrect.
IPC:
Enacted in 1860.
Came into force:
Ilbert Bill abolished racial discrimination.
❌ Incorrect.
The controversy exposed:
Continuing racial discrimination in colonial justice.
Cornwallis completely separated judiciary from executive administration.
❌ Incorrect.
He strengthened separation of functions, but:
The colonial executive retained substantial administrative authority.
British judicial administration had a dual character.
On one side:
It introduced formal courts, codified laws, professional legal institutions and greater procedural uniformity.
On the other:
It remained an instrument of colonial control, revenue extraction and racial hierarchy.
The legal system nevertheless unintentionally contributed to:
Growth of legal consciousness, constitutional politics and Indian nationalism.
British judicial administration evolved from the Company's early district courts into a centralised and codified judicial system. Warren Hastings, Cornwallis and later Crown governments played major roles in this transformation.
British judicial administration created a more systematic and codified legal structure, but its primary purpose remained colonial governance. Its institutions nevertheless became important foundations for India's later legal and constitutional system.
