I Year B.A. LL.

B – Semester-I (2021)

1st -Internal Assessment

INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

TOPIC: “LAW AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION”

NAME: SUSHMITA

DIVISION: D

PRN: 21010125372

COURSE: BA LL.B. (H)

BATCH: 2021-2026

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 INDEX

OBJECTIVES 3
INTRODUCTION 3
RELATIONSHIP B/W LAW & SOCIETY 3
HOW LAW CHANGES SOCIETY 4
EXAMPLES/CASES 5
CONCLUSION 6
REFERENCES…………………………………………….....................................................7

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OBJECTIVES:

After reading this, you will be able to:

 Interpret Law as an instrument of social change
 Recognize how ‘law changes the society’ or ‘society changes the law.’
 How social reforms are responsible for moulding the Law
 How legal forces can make people bend to their own will

INTRODUCTION:

For decades, the theorists had made many attempts in order to explain the relationship
between the Law and society. They had emphasized the interdependence of Law with other
social changes. Society is dynamic that is changeable. The changes may be economic,
physical, social, technological, etc. On the other hand, Law refers to the body of rules and
regulations made for regulating the behaviour of members of society. Law is a very effective
means of social change. Due to the change of Law, many times, social change has been
arising. Laws have been used by society as a means of social change. Society and Law both
are interlinked because it is essential to make laws for the people of society and society itself
in order to synchronize, which would help in bringing social change. A society is a mixture of
various kinds of people where people of different religions, caste, colour, sex, creed, gender,
background; therefore, it becomes essential that there is no discrimination these people
irrespective of their homogeneity, which can be only carried out by subject of Law. Law
plays a pivotal role in bringing social change. In a society where there are no laws and
regulations, there is an absence of peace and harmony between the society and people. A
society consists of many evils, too, such as corruption, prostitution, rape, poverty, child
marriage, drug and many more. In such a situation, law act as a driving wheel for society in
order to eradicate the hurdles by making statutes and legislations for future and present
society.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE:

Law is the supreme authority to regulate right and wrong for Society. There are rules and
regulations made for the Society that are supposed to be adopted to ensure peace and
harmony among the people.

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The regulation between law and Society is very earliest and old. Thus, it requires nurture and
care to keep it fresh. In Early Times, the Society followed a set of rules to regulate itself to
provide the elements of consistency and development in the Society. Besides, there were
many rules already made, but the significant difference is that some amendments were made
to the existing laws.

There are many instances due to which the social changes that may be technological or
demographic change even the shift in ideology. Law is a very dynamic subject that helps to
take the shape of its surroundings.

HOW LAW CHANGES SOCIETY

I believe that the Law serves as an instrument of social change. It helps society to bring social
change in two different ways:

 By providing stability and maintaining orderly life within the community.

 To adjust to the demands and needs of society.

Thus, we can say that the rule of Law is crucial for any democratic country like India. Law
has been a helpful agency to avoid unnecessary conflicts that act as obstacles for overall
development. Law is the shadow of the people's will and wish. 

There are two aspects of Law and society. First is, 'law changes society', which means Law
compels the community to change according to the enacted and enforced rules. And
secondly, 'society changes law', which means the Law is made by the society according to the
democratic institutions. If you want to study the respective organization, you first need to
look at the laws of that society. Even when the Law changes the organization, it signifies the
beginning of the development of the organization. Whereas, when society changes direction,
it means the maturity of the community. We can cite one of the most common
examples, 'Nirbhaya'1, where the commonest of ordinary people were talking about how the
Law should be and about punishment. Thus, it compelled the authorities and the judiciary to
consider the sentiments of the people and untimely; the criminal law amendment bill came
into existence. Law behaves as a weapon to create fear in the people as if there is no fear, the
people will forget their rights and duties, and we would often see people shooting each other

1
Mukesh & Anr v. State For NCT of Delhi & Ors. [2017]
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with guns. Fear is essential to create in the public's minds so that they can think before doing
any wrong, and this way, the Law can protect us from the injustice that would exploit one
livelihood.
The knowledge about the Law of a respective society can bring profound changes in
transforming the society. It can be changed in the way organisation wants it to be and acts as
an instrument in creating social change. For instance, the Rajiv Gandhi government wanted to
bring a defamation bill, but Law was removed due to the opposition from the public
regarding this bill.
Social Law is vital:
 To ensure justice
 To bring social reforms
 To encourage social welfare
 To maintain harmony & peace
 For smooth functioning
 To get social change required  
Social issues such as poverty, discrimination, forced labour, untouchability, etc., have been
analyzed by the Law, and after the constitution was enforced, these concerns were taken up
and were resolved. It has tried to maintain a balance between society and the Law. Thus, Law
acts as a significant weapon and instrument for bringing social changes.

EXAMPLES/ CASE LAWS/STATUES/PROVISIONS:

Let’s have a look on few examples and cases through which we can understand it in better
way.

 CHILD MARRIAGE

This was one of the social evil. In order to eradicate this problem, The Child Marriage
Restraint Act, 1929 was enforced. Recently, the Child marriage restraint act, 2006 has
also been introduced. This law helped to eradicate the child marriage. The
government understood the dangers for both boys and girls and fixed age for
marriage.
 SATI PRACTICE

During the British rule, it was Raja Rammohan Roy, who stepped first and urged the
liberal governor general, Lord Bentink to abolish the practice of Sati. Thus, The Sati

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 Prohibition Act, 1987 was passed. And under this act widow re-marriage was made
legal. The landmark case concerning to sati is: Roop Kanwar Case2
 UNTOUCHABILITY

Under Article 17 of the Indian constitution states that untouchability is a punishable

offence. There was Untouchability offences act passed by the government. In which
the person can be sentenced to 6 months of imprisonment and fine of rupees five
hundred. The landmark case is: State of Karnataka v. Appa Balu Ingale3
 RIGHT TO FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION

Under Article 21, the education was made compulsory for 6-14 years children. The
right of children to Free & compulsory Act, 2009 was enforced which changed the
ideology of the people and they started sending their wards to the schools. The
landmark case is: Mohini Jain v State of Karnataka4
 LAWS FOR RAPE VICTIMS

The Criminal (Amendmemt) Act, 2013 was passed which included the new class of
offences against the womens and made the law more stringent which included the
capital punishment. The case concerned to rape is: 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder5
 PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION

It serves as an instrument using which the people can approach the court on the
grounds that they are affected by something in order to avoid the future sufferings.
Due to this, the Supreme Court was able to reduce an extent of locus standi thus,
enabling to people to approach directly to Supreme Court. The case law is: M.C.
Mehta v Union of India6
 DOWRY DEATH

This is one of the worst social disorders that prevailed in the society. Section 498a of
Indian Penal Code protects for the dowry death. In Raja Lal Singh v State of
Jharkhand7, the Supreme Court laid that there is a clear nexus between the death of
Gayatri and dowry.

 BONDED LABOURERS
2
roop kanwar [1969].
3
State of Karnataka v. Appa Balu Ingale, [1993].
4
State of Karnataka v. Appa Balu Ingale, [1993].
5
2012 Delhi gang rape and murder [2012].
6
M.C. Mehta v Union of India [1986].
7
raja lal singh v state of Jharkhand, [2007]

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 Apex courts tried to remove the socio-economic evil which provided the guidelines
for eliminating such incidents. The Child Labour Act, 1986 was enforced in order to
proctect the child from dangerous and harmful wok. The case lae associated with this
is: Bandhua Mukti Morche v Union of India8
 CASTE SYSTEM

Under Article 16 of Constitution states that there shall be no discrimination on the

basis of caste, colour, creed, religion or sex. SC/ST prevention of atrocities act,1989
was enforced for the protection and to safeguard each section of the society. The case
law associated is: Lata Singh v State of Maharashtra 9

For the first time, the Britishers developed the supreme power of law in the social
matters to maintain the law and order. Now we have a number of laws to bring the
major changes in status of girls, womens, marginalized sections, scheduled castes and
there were some social structures such as family, marriage, etc. Thus, there are a lot of
social laws made to eradicate the social evils to protect the interest of public.

CONCLUSION
Coming towards as end of the discussion regarding as to how law be used as an
instrument of social change. Thus, it can be concluded that law has brought a number
of social changes that helped in development and growth of society. Law is ideal for
preserving justice and ensuring safety and security of all people. Law has enomorous
potential for meaningful social change to be enforced. Moreover, law is a social
science and develops constantly with the development and improvement of society.
Law plays important role whether directly or indirectly. Only one example in law can
spur the social reforms. Legislations have enormous powers in hand to influence
societal changes. Even, the different faces of our rituals, traditions and culture all over
the world have been transformed by legal changes. In nutshell, law plays a vital for
elaborating what is wrong and what is right. Today if one person cannot shoot the
other person is just due to the law. Both law and society plays vital role in law
making.

8
Bandhua Mukti Morche v Union of India [1983].
9
Lata Singh v State of Maharashtra [2006].

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REFERENCES
Retrived from:

 http://www.nmu.ac.in/Portals/46/SLM/LLM.PAPER-1.pdf

 https://www.worldwidejournals.com/indian-journal-of-applied-research-(IJAR)/

special_issues_pdf/December_2015_1453448341__45.pdf

 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/5133/7/07_chapter%201.pdf

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 http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1592/Law-and-Social-Change-in-

India.html, accessed on: 18 october 2021

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