WELCOME

POWER POINT PRESENTATION ON

JUDICIAL REFORMS OF LORD CORNWALLIS

INTRODUCTIONLord Cornwallis succeeded Warren Hastings Governor-General in 1786. Before assuming the office of Governor-General, he laid two conditions, namely; That he would also be appointed as the commander in chief. That governor general would be empowered to over rule the decisons of his council whenever it was deemed necessary.

JUDICIAL REFORMS OF LORD CORNWALLIS (1787-1793)JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1787:

During the governor generalship of Warren Hastings, the judicial and revenue functions were separated by vesting them in distinct authorities under the scheme of 1781. But the servants of the company raised voice against this reform of Hastings on the ground that this separation was too costly and led to constant conflict between the two functionaries. Merger of the two functionaries was also pleaded on the ground that it would enable revenue collecting authorities to act more promptly and efficiently, besides it would be a best measure of economy. On the instruction from the court of directors, Lord Cornwallis introduced his first judicial plan in 1787 too combine revenue and judicial function in a single authority called the ‘collector ‘. The scheme was introduced through two regulation, one dealing with revenue administration while the other with the administration of justice.

APPEALS AND OFFICE OF REGISTRAR :

Appeals from the decisions of the Mal Adalat which was headed by the collector lay to the board of revenue at calcutta and further appeal from the board of revenue could be preferred to the governor general and council. Thus there was provision ofr two appeals in the revenue cases.Under the judicial plan of 1787, a new office of the registrar was created in each district. He was a subordinate officer who assisted the collector in the administration of civil justice.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE JUDICIAL PLAN 1787

The changes introduced by the judicial plan of 1787,resulted into over centralisation of powers in one single official,namely the collector. He was vested with revenue, civil and magisterial power and thus virtually became all in his district.The provision of appeal in revenue,civil and criminal cases from the decisions of the collector to the board of revenue, sadar diwani adalat and nizamat adalat respectively, was intended to keep the collector with in bounds and to prevent likelihood of his mis-using the authority, but in practise it was difficult to exercise control over him frm calcutta on account of scarce means of communication and he often made use of his extensive powers of his personal gains.

JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1790

Lord Cornwallis focused his attention on the reorganization of the criminal justice through his judicial plan of 1790. At the time when he took over as the governor general, the administration of justice in the territories of bengal, behar and orrisa was carried on in accordance f the muslim law of crimes which suffered from seversal serious defects. The law of evidence under the mohammedan criminal law was also most unsatisfactory and irrational . The administration of criminal justice was carried on by mofussil fouzdari . Adalats consisting of kazi, muftis and moulvies. The final sentences could be passed by the sardar nizamat adalat at murshidabad but its control over mofussil fouzdari adalats was very ineffective and almost negligible.Therefore Lord Cornwallis introduced certain reformsin the existing mohammeden law of crimes and the organisation of the criminal courts.

THE MAIN CHANGES INTRODUCED UNDER THE PLAN OF 1790 WERE AS FOLLOWS :

Reforms introduced in mohammedan law of crimes. Reorganisation of the criminal courts.• The court of district magistrate• The courts of circuit• The sadar nizamat adalat

DEFECTSDespite strenuous efforts on the part of Cornwallis to rationalize the criminal law, certain defects came to light in the working of criminal justice system envisaged by the plan of 1790. The court of were over burden. The main reason for this was that the powers of magistrates were limited. There was also considerable delay in disposal of cases since the court of circuit held only two goal deliveries one each on 1st march and October every year. This was a time consuming process which involve considerable delay in disposal of criminal cases .this resulted into heavy accumulation of work and offends had to remain in prison for long time.

JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1793

The main purpose of this plan was to remove the defects existing in the administration of civil justice which had suffered a major set back due to over centralization of powers in a single authority of the collector in each district. Experience had soon that collectors always gave priority to revenue collection and considered administration of civil justice as there secondary function. This adversely affected the efficiency of judicial administration.In order to remove the short comings of the scheme of 1787,Lord Cornwallis brought about vital changes in the administration of civil justice through his judicial plan of 1793

THE PROVISIONS OF THE CORNWALLIS CODE DISCUSSED UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADS:

SEPRATION OF CIVIL AND REVENUE JURISDUCTION REORGANATION OF DIWANI ADALATS APPELS FROM THE DIWANI ADALATS CREATION OF SUBORDINATE CIVIL COURTS ABOLITION OF COURT FEES ADMISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE APPOINTMENT OF NATIVE LAW OFFICERS LEGAL PROFESSION MAKING OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF LAND REVENUE REFORMS IN POLICE SYSTEM

ANAPPRAISAL OF JUDICIAL PLAN OF

1793:Its stated that lord Cornwallis , as an able and efficient administrator, was genuinely interested in rooting out corruption and mal-practices prevelant in the Indian judicial system at that time.The most significant feature of the judicial plan of 1793 was that it was based on the sound principle of checks and balances by distinctly demarcating of powers, jurisdiction and functions of the different categories of law courts.The scheme of 1793 was founded on humanitarian consideration of public welfare. Therefore it found support from the masses and proved so successful that soon after it was extended to the provinces of Bombay, Madras and Banaras .The Cornwallis scheme of 1793 was compiled in the form of a code and consisted of 48 regulations. It dealt with almost all the spheres of the governmental activities, such as revenue, executive, commerce and administration of civil and criminal justice.

DEFECTS : Firstly, too many details about the law and procedure made the system complicated and combersome. Secondly, Cornwallis did not consider indians worthy of trust and did not give them a place in the administration of justice or the government. Therefore, his scheme, though effective, lacked support from the natives. Thirdly, Cornwallis did little to improve the quality of judicial personnel and over emphasised on the nature of law and functioning of the courts. All the courts were manned by the english servants of the company who were not conversant with the local language, customs and traditions of the people.

Fourthly, one of the regulations of the Cornwallis code of 1793 provided that all the regulation issued so far by the governor-general and council should be numbered, arranged, printed and circulated for the guidance of all concerned but no attempt was made for the condification of indian law. Fifthly, the abolition of the court-fees by lord cornwallis adversely affected the earnings of the company and at the same time resulted into unprecedented increase in the number of cases. In other words, abolition of the court-fee encouraged litigation without any restraints. Finally, the judicial plan of 1793 provided for the appointment of munsifs, namely, commissioners and ameens for deciding petty criminal cases in the interior region of the district.

THANK YOU

PRESENTED BY

INSHA KHAN