delat System after Cormeallis 83 LORD wi Lord William Benti TLLIAM BENTINCK ea jentinck became the G 1928 and held that office upto till M; Sovernor-General of India in July, de several reforms in till March, 1835. During this period he the jud 8 ent ts were original and eae eae administration which in many ¢ basis of our present judicial ¢ ire institutions created by him forms i in out legal history next to a lem. They figure as an outstanding mans made by him may be disc ¢ made by Lord Cornwallis. Various eee aaah a ce as follows:— adar Adalat at Calcutta. People h peti far there was only one omtjce from that court. In th ple had to travel long distances to seek i ical forth ose days of meagre means of communication ite or from ‘Allahabad. e people to travel such a long distance from Be Adalat ad. Therefore, in many cases people instead of lat preferred to suffer injustice. It was necessary that Sadar Adalat should be created in those farsituated places which had Paar ch now come under the jurisdiction of the Company. By Regulation VI of 1831, Lord William Bentinck met that demand and established a Sadar Diwani and Sadar Nizamat Adalat at Allahabad from 1st January, 1832. The constitution and powers of the Adalat were the same as that of the Adalat at Calcutta. The territorial jurisdiction of the new Adalat extended jo Banaras province and other conquered areas including the districts of Meerut, Saharanpur, Muzatffar Nagar and Bulandshahr. Reforms in Criminal Judiciary In the administration of criminal justice Bentinck made farreaching changes which may be discussed as follows:— (i) Abolition of Circuit Court—The Circuit Court which was the f criminal jurisdiction was suffering from many defects, the most outstanding of these defects were that court had heavy work load and therefore, the arrears went on piling and the justice was delayed. Secondly, in many cases reference wras to be made to the Sadar Nizamat Adalat which did not entertain the matter for years and the accused had to wait for long in the jail for their turn. Thirdly, the number of Circuit Cotrts was very limited with large territorial jurisdiction. They i i! it at i 1 the entire territory to hold the circu could not east a imes the Court could not arrive on istris some : . jstrcts and some Br tly, the territory being ave® ‘these Courts i derstan' ‘the P eee Ss an erefore, many time: pile the real culprits were 5 Scanned with CamScannerIndian Legal & Constitutional, History to devise a new system replacing the existing one. Accordin, in 1829 Lord Bentinck replaced these courts by the Court Commissioner. . (ii) Creation of the Court of Commissioner.—Regulation 1 OF 1839 which replaced the Circuit Court by the Court of Commissione, also provided for the appointment of Commissioner. 7, Commissioner was called as the Commissioner of Revenue and Circuit and had the power of superintendence and control over the Magistrates, police, Collectors and other revenue officers The entire area was divided into divisions and for each division a Commissioner was appointed. The Commissioner was subject to the control of the Sadar Nizamat Adalat in his judicial functions and to the Board of revenue in his revenue functions Apart from exercising the powers of the Circuit Courts in the like manner as those courts did, the Commissioners were also authorised to hear appeals against the decisions of the Magistrates and the Joint Magistrates. The decision of the Commissioner in the appeal was final and there was no further appeal or revison in the Sadar Nizamat Adalat. The creation of the Court of Commissioner gave relief to the People to the extent that the Commissioner was more easily available and his territorial jurisdiction being smaller than that of the Circuit Court, he could more easily and better understand the needs the people. But the problem of arrears and the delay in justice was not fully solved, Therefore, it was Necessary that some new courts were cteated to deal with the arrears and delay. Accordingly, in 1831 a new Regulation created a new system of courts, gly of Gili) Creation of the Court of District and Sessions Judge— Regulation VII of 1831 authorised the Government to invest the judges of the District Diwani of arrears was ‘also solved to a great (iv) pa Collector-Magistrates—tora Hastings under his Coll echoes Macienuthotsed the Goverment to confer upon the terial powers but that authority was ‘not actually Scanned with CamScannergas System after Cormoatis exercised during the time 1 2 of Bentiltck that Ree ace Hastings. However, during the time were authorized to eet Was fully utilized and the Collectors institution of Collec xercise Magisterial function and thus the aicanee ine a Or-Magistrates was created. It may be called ee anual judicature but it hardly deserves to be officer with the seas aa that, the authorising, a revenue fice determine th : 2 pe i criminal matters was against the ar ie : @) Ll sneee Pa aration of Indians—The participation of Indians ee in a aS criminal administration of justice by Lord : ‘ough a Regulation of 1831, which authorised the Magistrates to refer any criminal case to a Sadar Ameen or a Principal Sadar Ameen for investigation. But they could not be authorized to make any commitment. The powers of these Indian Officers were declared in 1832 and they could award punishment upto a period of one month along with hard labour and corporal punishment not exceeding, 30 Rattans. Further, provisions were made for Indians to associate as assessors and jurors in criminal trials. Reforms in Civil Judicature More important reforms were made by Bentick in administration of civil justice than those made in the administration of criminal justice. The most important aspect of these reforms was the increased participation of fhe Indians with substantial powers given to them. The reforms so made were: --@ Enhancement in the powers of the Munsifs and Sadar ”.Ameens—The number of Munsifs and Sadar Ameens employed «in the civil judicature was increased by Bentinck to a great extent ) by specifying the local jurisdiction of those officers. But more i i i By Regulation ortant was the increase n their powers. By Regu V of 1813, the jurisdiction ‘of the Munsifs was raised to Rs. 300 in all matters whether they related to money, personal property or real property. A monthly salary was also fixed for the Munsifs sand the existing system of giving them commission or fee per case was abolished. acy th jurisdicti Sadar Ameen was extended upte ake jaipliction ft ses referred to him by the Taistiet Diwan rnc could relate to any matter whether o men y eae Largs eoerty 1832, they were also authorised to or. personal pro} . reuse their decrees and orders. Scanned with CamScannerGi) Court of Principal Sadar Ameen—A; (iii) (iv) () ) Indiat Ameen with a native officer was created. was to be appointed by the Govemors was given powers to decide cases of civ: : ‘ Rs. 1000 to Rs, 5,000 if referred to him by the ‘District ee Adalat. He was also authorised to heat appeals against the decisions of the Munsifs and Sadar Ameens 1 ee ee if were referred to him by the Diwani Adalat after, obtaining ; e permission of the Sadar Diwani Adalat. Ey fe appeals to the Sadar Ameen against the decisions of the Munsi ; existing so far, was abolished. Appeals against the geisions : the Principal Sadar Ameen were heard by the Diwani Adalat and in special cases by the Sadar Diwani Adalat. ; Judicial Powers of the Registrar abolished—The Registrar was deprived of all the judicial. powers which he was exercising so far. His powers were transferred to Sadar Ameen and Principal Sadar Ameen. far 2r Abolition of Provincial Court of Appeals and enhancement of powers of the Diwani Adalat—By Regulation V of 1831, the Governor-General-in-Council was authorised to abolish the jurisdiction of the Provincial Court of Appeals in any district and authorise the Diwani Adalat to exercise jurisdiction of the Provincial Court of Appeal. The Diwani Adalat was given an unlimited jurisdiction to hear civil cases of any amount. By Regulation Il of 1833, the Governor-General-in-Council was specifically authorised to abolish all the Provincial Court of appoint additional Jud, work with id Hal the same powers of deciding cases as the District Scanned with CamScannerust System ater Corneal Judges to understand the Indi x a just decision, Reforms In Revenue matters So far the Diwani Adal. falat wa enue matters and the coe having, substancial powers in the lection of land revenue. Insome r ue mainly concerned with the fothe Diwani ‘Adalat in any disput _ he was also authorised to report ition and the Collector was ae ae VIII of 1831 changed this pastime connected with arrears rised to entertain and try summarily Mnorised to execute all a aa rent their exactions. He was also 4 : 7 ers and decrees passed by him. The aay Adalat te deprived of all powers in These subjects except that oe Ce judgment of the Collector if a fresh regular suit was ae it we revising power was also given to the Principal Sadar am iss ab een and Munsif according to their pecuniary risdic . ;, a power was granted to these native officers to the decision of the Collector. mana This Regulation eased problem of arrears and delay in the Diwani Adalat, but was a retrograde step as it abrogated the scheme of Lord Comwallis which was based on separation of the executive and the judiciary. Appraisal of the Reforms of Lord Willlam Bentinck Lord William Bentinck made t contribution to the administration of justice and it can id wi inty that the main outlines of the present Indian legal sys sttled during his time ‘According to Dr. M.P. Jain,! “The ey note of Bentinck’s judicial reforms was Indianisation and economy: Decentralisation was achieved through the use of Munsifs interspersed throughout the district. Indianisation and ced pressure on highly paid English Judges and this ity to increase the number of been expressed by ects the reforms of Lord Bentinck sfaes ives for-reae cater efficiency within i ool i imits, cially in view of the augmentation Diiiadee i pec) a of justice in the country”. No doubt the mos’ distinguished OF a criminal judicature with increased employment of Indians TF wever, it may be noted that these substantial powers given to them. For, the E Judges. In criminal officers were not on the same footing p- 318: jan circumstances and to arrive at f all these reforms was the — 1. Jain MP, op. ett 2. Uc. Sarkar, ope P29?" Scanned with CamScanner| | 88 Indian Legal & Constitutional History ets they had very little powers to deal with petty cases and in civil eee ae they Sica from many drawbacks, ¢,g., they had a limited monetary jurisdiction and the highest jurisdiction extended upto Rs. 5,000, beyond which no Indian Judge could entertain a case. Secondly, the suits of high amount which were decided by the Principal Sadar ‘Ameen were not filed in his court but they were merely referred to him by the Diwani Adalat. Thirdly, the Americans and British were excluded from the jurisdiction of the courts of Indian Judges. Lastly, no power of final adjudication was given to any court presided over by an Indian Judge. In all matters their decisions were appealable to the court of English Judges. JUDICIAL REFORMS MADE AFTER BENTINCK Minor reforms were made after Lord William Bentinck in the judicial system established by him. The reforms which took place in various areas of administration of justice upto the establishment of High Courts in 1861 may be mentioned here. Civil Judiciary—On the persuasion and strong advocacy of Lord Macaulay, an Act of 1837 authorised the Principal Sadar Ameen to hear cases of any amount if referred to him by the Diwani Adalat. An appeal against his decisions went to the Diwani Adalat in cases upto the value of Rs. 5,000 and to the Sadar Diwani Adalat in cases of value exceeding Rs. 5,000. _ Criminal Judiciary—In criminal matters powers had already been given to Collector to work as Magistrate. The work of the Collector suffered due to his engagement with revenue collection and settlement of revenue disputes. To relieve the Collector of these onerous duties Lord Aukland in 1837, got the permission from the Directors of the Company to separate the Offices of the Collector and the Magistrate and he did it, Re ae oe ey an Act of 1859, the Collector was authorised to transferred to civi] court en ind 8 the Bene ese pact authesbed the ci Sateen 885 the Bengal Tenancy Act authorised venue officers were left with the © course of preparation of records eee disputes Scanned with CamScanner