ROUGH DRAFT

OF

“LEGAL HISTORY”

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Priya Darshini SUBMITTED BY:

(Faculty of Legal History) Shreya Sinha

Roll No. 1648

Semester: 2nd

Session: 2016-2021

“TOPIC”

DEVELOPMENT OF LAW IN INDIA

“INTRODUCTION”

Law in India has evolved from religious prescription to the current constitutional and legal
system we have today, traversing through secular legal systems and the common law.

India has a recorded legal history starting from the Vedic ages and some sort of civil law
system may have been in place during the Bronze Age and the Indus Valley civilization. Law
as a matter of religious prescriptions and philosophical discourse has an illustrious history in
India. Emanating from the Vedas, the Upanishads and other religious texts, it was a fertile
field enriched by practitioners from different Hindu philosophical schools and later by Jains
and Buddhists.

Secular law in India varied widely from region to region and from ruler to ruler. Court
systems for civil and criminal matters were essential features of many ruling dynasties of
ancient India. Excellent secular court systems existed under the Mauryas (321-185 BCE) and
the Mughals (16th – 19th centuries) with the latter giving way to the current common law
system.

History comprises of the growth, evolution and development of the legal system in the
country and sets forth the historical process whereby a legal system has come to be what it is
over time. The legal system of a country at a given time is not the creation of one man or of
one day but is the cumulative fruit of the endeavour, experience, thoughtful planning and
patient labour of a large number of people through generations.

With the coming of the British to India, the legal system of India changed from what it was in
the Mughal period where mainly the Islamic law was followed. The legal system currently in
India bears a very close resemblance to what the British left us with. As per the needs of the
changing times changes and amendments were made, but the procedure which is followed not
has its roots in the era of British-India. Little did the traders of the English East India
Company while establishing their trade in India know that they would end up establishing
their rule for about 200 years here. But the evolution of law as it is today did not come about
in one go altogether. It was the Presidency Towns individually that were first affected by this
change in hands of the governance of India after which the steps towards amalgamation of
the judicial system were taken by the Charters of 1726 and 1753. To improve upon this,
under the Regulating Act of 1773 Supreme Courts in the Presidency Towns and then under
the Act of 1798 the Recorder’s Courts at Madras and Bombay were established. These were
ultimately replaced by the establishment of the High Courts under the Act of 1861, which are
still running in the country. It was only after independence in 1950 that the Supreme Court
was established. Reforms and codifications were made in the pre and post-independence eras
and are still continuing.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of this project are:

1. To study about the various sources which have contributed to the development of law
in India.
2. To study the historical background of law in India.
3. To study the evolution of law in India.
 TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION

1. Introduction
2. Ancient Indian Law
3. Administration of Justice in British India
4. Making of the Indian Constitution
5. The present day laws in India
6. Landmark cases bringing radical changes in the Indian Judicial System
7. Conclusion

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For this study, primary research method was utilised. Various articles, e-articles, reports and
books from library were used extensively in framing all the data and figures in appropriate
form, essential for this study.

The method used in writing this research is primarily analytical.

BIBLIOGRAPHY