COURSE MANUAL

HISTORY OF COURTS, LEGISLATURE, AND LEGAL

PROFESSION IN INDIA

Spring 2024
(AY 2023-24)

Course Instructors:

Subornadeep Bhattacharjee (Course Coordinator)

Abhimanyu Singh
Aishwarya Chaturvedi
Bagavathy Vennimalai
Diksha Jhingan
Ila Tyagi
Leela Tarang Krishna Paladugu
Oiswarjya Basu
Rajeeta Bhandari
Raji Gururaj
Sanitya Kalika
Sanya Darakhshan Kishwar

1
 CONTENTS

PART I

General Information……………………………………………………………………………………………3

PART II

a. Course Description…………………………………………………………………………………………4

b. Course Aims…………………………………………………………………………………………………...4

c. Intended Learning Outcomes…………………………………………………………......................5

d. Grading of Student Achievement………………………………………………….........................7

PART III

a. Keyword Syllabus…………………………………………………………………………………………9
b. Course Policies……………………………………………………………………………………………..9

PART IV

a. Weekly Course Outline …………………………………………………………...............................11

b. Readings…………………………………………………………………………………………………….12

2
 PART I

General Information

on

“History of Courts, Legislature and Legal Profession in India”

offered by Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) of the AY 2023-24

Spring 2024

The information provided herein is by the Course Coordinator. The following

information contains the official record of the details of the course.

This information shall form part of the University database and may be
uploaded to the KOHA Library system and catalogued and may be distributed
amongst ____ year Law students for B.A.LL.B. (Hons), B.B.A.LL.B. (Hons); B.Com.
LL.B. (Hons), B.A. (Hons) Legal Studies, B.A. (Hons) Criminology and Criminal
Justice; LL.B.; and LL.M. courses if necessary.

Course Title: History of Courts, Legislature and Legal Profession in India

Course Code: L-CT-0039
Course Duration: One Semester
No. of Credit Units: 4
Level:
Medium of Instruction: English

3
 PART II

a. Course Description
The course fundamentally deals with the evolution of the legislative and judicial
institutions in India, inclusive of a legal profession, during the period under British
Rule. With a focused discussion on the significant overlaps of the rule of the British
East India Company with the systemic decline of the Mughal dynasty, it also
examines the significant Charters that brought the British to the Indian shores,
commencing with the Charter of 1600. It also covers the essential Charters which
brought tectonic shifts in the official State policy which brought the rule of the
Indian Dominion under the British Crown and saw the evolution of the legislative
and judicial institutions in pre-independent India.

b. Course Aims

Key topics that this course aims to revisit are:

▪ The nature, scope, function, and operation of legal history and judicial
systems in India as they relate to contemporary legal institutions.
▪ The administration of justice in pre-independent India: the
establishment of the Mayor’s Court and the Adalat System; the
enactment and implications of Regulating Act of 1773 and subsequent
judicial Reforms; the establishment of High Courts, Privy Council and
Federal Court of India,
▪ The influence of English law, in general, in India.
▪ A critical appreciation of legal evolution between 1947 and 1950.

4
c. Intended learning outcomes

Course Intending Weigh Teaching Assessment

Learning t and tasks/
Outcomes Learning Activities
Activities
By the end of the course, 50 Lectures will End-of-
studentsshould be able to: bethe course
- identify and explain principal examination
how the present-day mode of
legal andpolitical instruction.
institutions evolved Students will
over a period of time; develop an
- identify and explain the understanding
role of British-era of historical
institutions and the perspective
impactof English through
common law on the textbooks,
functioning of the courts legislation,
in India; judgments,
- critically analyse how journal
lawyersand judges in the articles,
past formedopinions on the movies,
issues that have videos,etc.
contemporary importance; Students will
- develop the ability to be able to
researchlegal history to find critically
answers to contemporary explore ideas
legal and social issues; and for social, and
- apply the conceptual legal reforms,
understanding to following the
foreground historical reading of the
misgivings that often inform course
legislative and executive materialand
policies and judicial class
rulings in India. discussions.

5
50 Students shall Internal
be encouraged assessment
to review topics
covered weekly
through quizzes
and /or
presentations;
they may also
be
encouraged to
write reflective
essays.

6
d. Grading of Student Achievements

To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 50% in the cumulative aspectsof
the course. The assessment rubrics may include weekly quizzes, class presentations
or/and reflection papers. The end semester exam in this course shall carry a weightage
of 50 marks.

Details of the grades as well as the criteria for awarding such grades are provided below.

Letter Percentage Grade

Grade of Definitions
Marks
O 80% Outstanding Outstanding work with strong
and evidence of knowledge of the subject
above matter, excellent organisational
capacity, ability to synthesize, and
critically analyse and originality in
thinking and presentation.
A+ 75 to 79.75% Excellent Sound knowledge of the subject matter,
thorough understanding of issues;
ability to synthesise critically and
analyse.
A 70 to 74.75% Good Good understanding of the subject
matter, ability to identify issues and
provide balanced solutions to
problems, and analytical skills. good
critical and
analytical skills.
A- 65 to 69.75% Adequate Adequate knowledge of the subject
matter to reach the next level of study
and reasonable critical and analytical
skills.
B+ 60 to 64.75% Marginal Limited knowledge of the subject matter,
irrelevant use of materials and
poorcritical and analytical skills.
B 55 to 59.75% Poor Poor comprehension of the subject
matter; poor critical and analytical
skills,and marginal use of the relevant
information materials.
B- 50 to 54.75% Pass “Pass” in a pass-fail course. “P” indicative
of at least a basic understanding of the
subject matter.
NEW COURSE LETTER GRADES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
7
Letter Percentage
Grade Points Interpretation
Grade of Marks
Pass 1: Pass with Basic understanding of the
P1 45 - 49 2
subject matter.
Pass 2: Pass with Rudimentary
P2 40 - 44 1
understanding of the subject matter.
Fail: Poor comprehension of the subject
matter; poor critical and analytical skills and
F Below 40 0
marginal use of the relevant materials. Will
require repeating the course.
“Extenuating circumstances” preventing the
student from taking the examination; the
I Absent
Vice Dean (Examinations) at their discretion
assign the “Ab” grade.

8
 PART III

a. Keyword Syllabus

Legal history; Colonial legal History; colonialism; evolution of the legal system
inIndia; the origins of the judicial system in India; history of Legislature in India;
theemergence of East India Company; establishment of courts; Federal Court;
PrivyCouncil; Judicial Reforms; Prerogative Writs; Legal profession in India.

b. Course Policies

Integrity and Honesty

Learning and knowledge production of any kind is always a collaborative process.

As such, collaboration demands an ethical responsibility to acknowledge who we
are from and how learning from others helps us shape our own ideas. Even
originality requires acknowledgement of the sources and processes that helped
you achieve it. Thus, any idea, sentence, or paragraph you refer to or are inspired
by must be cited in your academic work, be it a piece of writing, presentation, or
any other form of articulation. Any source from the internet, articles, books,
journals, magazines, case law, statutes, photographs, films, paintings, etc. must be
credited by following a uniform referencing style. If the source of inspiration for
your idea is a friend, a casualchat, or something that you overheard or heard being
discussed at a conference or inclass, these must be credited. If you paraphrase or
directly quote from a web source in the exam, presentation or essay, the source
must be explicitly mentioned. This is an issue of academic integrity on which no
compromise will be made, especially as students have already been trained in the
perils of lifting sentences or paragraphs from others and claiming authorship of
them.

A word of caution on online readings

Online sources on history and politics can be classified as reliable, unreliable, and
outright bogus. The Internet is an open domain in which everyone can create web
pages and indulge in propaganda and falsification or misrepresentation of events.
Students are encouraged to rely on credible resources that can help them with
basicinformation to improve their learning.

Disability Support and Accommodation Requirements

All students with a known disability needing academic accommodations are

required to register with the Disability Support Committee ([email protected]).
To date, the Committee has identified the following conditions that could
possibly hinder the overall well-being. These include physical and mobility-
9
related difficulties; visual impairment; hearing impairment; medical
conditions; specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia; mental health.

The Disability Support Committee maintains strict confidentiality. Students

should preferably register with the Committee in the month of June/January
as disability accommodation requires early planning. DSC will approve and
coordinate all disability-related services such as the appointment of
academic mentors, specialized interventions, and course-related
requirements such as accessible classrooms for lectures, tutorials, and
examinations.

Feel free to speak to your instructor if you have any adverse concerns that
affect your learning or presence in class: bullying, sexual harassment, or
emotional distress.

Safe Space Pledge

To make sure that all students collectively benefit from the course and do
not feel troubled due to either the contents of the course or the conduct of
the discussions, it is incumbent upon all within the classroom to maintain
respect towards our peers. This does not mean that you need to feel
restricted about what you feel and what you want to say. On the contrary,
this is about creating a safe space where everyone can speak and learn
without inhibition and fear. This responsibility lies not only on the students
but also on the instructor.

P.S. The course instructor, as part of introducing the course manual, will
discuss the scope of the Safe Space Pledge with the class.

10
 PART IV

a. Weekly Course Outline

Week 1 Introduction to the course and ‘Legal History’ as a discipline

Weeks 2, 3 & 4 Administration of Justice: Emergence of East India Company

and early Royal Charters
Week 5 Mayor’s Court and the Adalat System

Week 6 & 7 The Regulating Act of 1773; The Charter Act of 1813, 1833
and1853; and the Government of India Act of 1858.

Weeks 8 Judicial Reforms and Corruption in British India: Trial of

Warren Hastings & Trial of Raja Nand Kumar

Week 9 Legislature

Week 10 High Courts: Origins & Establishment

Week 11 Privy Council and the Federal Court of India

Week 12 The Indian Dominion: 1947-50

Week 13 Legal History as a history of Jurisdictions

Week 14 History and evolution of the legal profession in the pre-

Independent and post-Independent India
Week 15 Revision

11
 b. Readings
(Instructors may add additional readings at any time during the semester if deemed
appropriate. The instructor shall duly inform the students when such changes are made to
this list.)

Week 1: Introduction to the Course and ‘Legal History’ as a discipline

This session will introduce you to the academic study of legal history and establish
the tone and focus of this course. It will broadly cover questions, namely, why study
legal history. What do we mean by legal history? Why not let bygones be bygones
and forgetthem? What relevance does it hold to inspect legal institutions of the past
and dissect them thoroughly? What are the sources of legal history? What are the
qualities of a goodlegal historian? Who makes legal history?

Readings:

- Rohit De ‘Introduction’, A People's Constitution: The Everyday Life of Law in

the Indian Republic (2018) 1-3, 5- 6, 11 (last para) to 15.
- Elizabeth Kolsky, ‘A Note on the Study of Indian Legal History’, (2005) 23
Law and History Review, 703. Formatted: Font: Not Italic
- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12th
edition) 3-34.

Supplementary Readings:

- Lakshmi Subramanyam, History of India, 1707-1857 (Blackswan, 2019) chap

3.
- Mitra Sharafi, ‘Indian Law’, The Oxford Handbook of Legal History (edited by
Markus D. Dubber and Christopher Tomlins).

Weeks 2, 3 & 4: Administration of justice: Emergence of East India

Company andearly Royal Charters

In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I granted a Charter to the London East India
Company to ‘trade in to and from the East Indies, in countries and parts of Asia and
Africa...’. In these weeks we will discuss the growth of East India Company and the
roleof its Charters.

Readings:

- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12th

edition) 67-97.

12
Supplementary Reading:

- Lakshmi Subramanyam, History of India, 1707-1857 (Blackswan, 2019) 117-

127.

Week 56: Mayor’s Court and the Adalat System

The Charter of 1726 created the Mayor’s Court for each of the Presidency towns in
Indiaand established a bridge between the English and Indian legal systems. This
session willexamine the functioning of the Mayor's courts and reforms initiated by
Chief Justice Impey and Warren Hastings.

Readings:

- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12th

ed.)
229-264.

- Radhika Singha, A Despotism of Law: Crime and Justice in Early Colonial

Times’ (OUP, 2000) Chapter 1.

Supplementary Reading:

- Lakshmi Subramanyam, History of India, 1707-1857 (Blackswan, 2019)

Chapter3.

Weeks 67 & 78: The Regulating Act of 1773

to the Government of India Act of 1858

The Regulating act of 1773 is considered to be a landmark in the legal history of

India.The Charter of 1774 led to the establishment of the Supreme Court of Calcutta
and subsequently the Supreme Courts of Madras and Bombay.

Readings:

- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12th

ed.) 267-312.

- Lakshmi Subramanyam, History of India, 1707-1857 (Blackswan, 2019)

Chapter3.

13
 Week 85: Judicial Reforms and Corruption in British India

The Regulating Act of 1773 had very little success in introducing important changes in
thelegal system in India. But Lord Cornwallis initiated a series of judicial reforms in
1787. Most of the changes undertaken by Lord Cornwallis were followed up with
other significant reforms by his successors as well.

Readings:

- J. Duncan Derrett, Nandakumar’s Forgery, (1960) 75 The English Historical

Review 223–238.
- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12
ed.) 316-327.
- Mithi Mukherjee, ‘Justice, War, and the Imperium: India and Britain in
Edmund Burke’s Prosecutorial Speeches in the Impeachment Trial of Warren
Hastings’ (2005)23 Law and History Review 589–630.

Week 9: Legislature

In this week, we will discuss the history of legislation from 1772 to 1861, Legislatures
of India under the Crown, Charter Act, 1833 and its codification.

Readings:

- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12th

ed.: Chapters 7, 8 and 9 respectively)

- Lakshmi Subramanyam, History of India, 1707-1857 (Blackswan,2019)

117-127.

Week 10: High Courts: Origin & Establishment

The establishment of High Courts was seen to be an important step in improving the
quality of justice administration in India. This session will examine the Indian High
CourtsAct 1861, the Charter of Calcutta High Court, the Charter of Allahabad High
Court, the Indian High Court Act 1911, the Government of India Act 1915, and other
High Courts; and the Government of India Act 1935.

Reading:

- VD Kulshreshtha, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History (12th

ed. )351-370.

14
 Week 11: Privy Council and the Federal Court of India

The Privy Council during the last few centuries has not only laid down the law but
also coordinated the concepts of rights and obligations throughout the dominions
and colonies in the British Commonwealth. This session will examine the role and
functionsexercised by the Privy Council and the federal courts. Students may also
read some judgments of the Privy Council to understand its functioning and
adjudicative process.

Readings:

- Rohit De, “A Peripatetic World Court” Cosmopolitan Courts, Nationalist Judges

and the Indian Appeal to the Privy Council (2014) 32(4) Law and History Review
821–851.

- Thomas Mohr, ‘The Privy Council Appeal and British Imperial Policy, 1833-
1939’ in Michal Galędek and Anna Klimaszewska (eds), Modernisation, National
Identity and Legal Instrumentalism: Studies in Comparative Legal History (Brill
2019), 86-112.

- George H. Gadbois Jr., Evolution of the Federal Court of India, Supreme Court
of India: The Beginnings (OUP2017) [Chapters 1 and 2].

Week 12: The Indian Dominion: 1947-50

This week we will examine the years between 1947 and 1950 in India.

Reading:

- Rohit De, ‘Between Midnight and Republic: Theory and Practise of India’s
Dominion Status (2020) 17 International Journal of Constitutional Law.

Week 13: Legal history as a history of Jurisdictions

This session will examine the development of the legal system in India as a history
ofimperial jurisdictions.

Readings:

- Prabhakar Singh, Indian Princely States and the 19th-century

Transformation of the Law of Nations (2020) 11 Journal of International Dispute
Settlement 365–387.

15
 Week 14: History and evolution of the legal profession in the pre-
Independent India and post-Independet

During this week, the focus will be on the history and evolution of the legal
profession, before independence and in post-independent India.

Readings:

- MP Jain, Outlines of Indian Legal and Constitutional History (LexisNexis 6th ed.)
[Chapters 31 and 32].

Week 15: Revision

This week is supposed to be there for students to revise the course and prepare well
forthe end-term examinations.

16