HISTORY III PROJECT

JUDICIAL REFORMS OF LORD CORNWALLIS

PROJECT SUBMITTED TO:

DR. VANDANA SINGH
(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY)

PROJECT SUBMITTED BY:

RISHI SEHGAL
Semester III, Section B
ROLL NO. 115

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY.
LUCKNOW, UTTAR PRADESH.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 This project would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many
individuals and organizations. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.

I am highly thankful to Dr. Vandana Singh for her kind guidance and constant supervision
and also for providing necessary information regarding the project.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents for their kind co-operation and
encouragement which helped me in completion of this project.

My thanks and appreciations also go to my colleagues in developing the project and people
who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................2
JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1787.......................................................................................................3
JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1790 (REORGANISATION OF CRIMINAL JUDICATURE).............5
JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1793.......................................................................................................8
GENERAL FEATURES............................................................................................................8
REORGANISATION OF COURTS..........................................................................................9
EVALUATION OF THE PLAN OF 1793:..............................................................................12
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................14

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 INTRODUCTION

Lord Cornwallis, who succeeded Warren Hastings, came to India in September 1786 and
continued as Governor General up to 1793. Accepting his appointment as Governor General,
Cornwallis laid down two conditions, he will have power to override his council and office of
the Governor-General and the Commander-in-chief will be united in one person. The
conditions laid down by Cornwallis were accepted and he became the Governor-General of
India under the authority of the Board of Control and Court of Directors. Before Lord
Cornwallis came in India during 1726 to 1775 to follow many cases namely: Rama Kamti
case, Shimpys case, Arab Merchants case, Pagoda Oath case, Raja Nand Kumar case, Kamal
Uddin case, The Patna case, Cossijurah case, Saroop Chand case, Radha Charan Mitras case
etc., which is make conflict between Governor General and courts.

After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company held the administrative and
judicial powers under itself of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The jurisdiction of Mofussil was
completely under the Company. The judicial organization provided by the Company in
moffusil was called the Adalat System whose initial milestone was laid down in Bengal with
Warren Hastings as the Governor of Bengal. With the Regulating Act passed in 1773, Warren
Hastings was made the Governor General of all the British territories in India and the reforms
of 1774 and 1780 were passed. The Company was dissatisfied with the plan of 1780 because
it had separated the revenue and judicial functions, thus proving to be costly. Accordingly, the
Directors advocated a merger of the two functions on the grounds of simplicity, efficiency
and economy. Lord Cornwallis assumed the role of Governor-General of the Company in
1786 and continued till 1793.

The Governor-General ship of Lord Cornwallis which extended from 1786-1793 constitutes a
very remarkable and a highly creative period in Indian legal history. Cornwallis introduced
changes in the judicial system thrice: first, in 1787 then in 1790 and finally in 1793. By the
time he left India, he had thoroughly reorganised the judicial system both civil and criminal
in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and placed it on an entirely new basis. He introduced for the first
the principle of administration according to law. The Adalat system left by him won praise
and encomium from all quarters. It enjoyed such a high place in the esteem of people as well
as the administrators that it was adopted as the model for the judicial system in the provinces
of madras and Bombay.

JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1787

The judicial plan of Warren Hastings of 1780 continued until the need of change arose on the
arrival of Lord Cornwallis. The company was dissatisfied with the existing system for the
reason that it had separated the revenue and judicial functions. This separation of functions
was found to be an expensive affair by the company. It also created the conflict of
jurisdiction. On 12th April, 1786 the directors of the company directed Lord Cornwallis to
vest in one person revenue, judicial and magisterial functions to promote simplicity, energy,
justice and economy. This type of arrangement, the company thought would be consistent

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with the Indian tradition in which all the functions were vested in one department or in body.
The company wanted Indians to remain under the same oppressive system without tasting the
fruits of good administration of justice.

As an obedient servant of the company, without expressing his views, Lord Cornwallis
introduced a scheme in 1787 in accordance with the wishes of the directors of the company.
The judicial plan of 1787 was introduced in the form of two sets of regulations, one relating
to the revenue matters and the other relating to the General administration of justice of which
were promulgated on 8th and 27th June, respectively. By this scheme all revenue and judicial
functions were vested with the Collector. The functions of the Collector under this scheme
could be divided into 3 parts:

Revenue matters- the Collector was given the work of collecting the land revenue within his
district. He had to decide all disputes relating to the collection of land revenue. The office
through which he decided the revenue matters was called Mal Adalat or revenue court 1. He
had full powers to decide all the disputes arising on this side. An appeal against the decisions
of the Collector went to the Board of Revenue at Calcutta and a second appeal lay with the
Governor-General and council.

Civil matters- for the purposes of deciding the civil disputes a court called diwani Adalat
was established in each district. The Collector was the sole judge of the Diwani Adalat and
had the full powers to decide all types of disputes relating to civil matters. Appeals from the
Diwani Adalat went to the Sadar Diwani Adalat at Calcutta in matters of the valuation of Rs
100 or more. A second appeal lay to the King-in- Council and it was allowed in matters
exceeding 5000 pounds or more.

For the assistance of the Collector in the civil work an officer with the designation of
Registrar was appointed. The collector had power to refer cases up to the value of Rs 200 to
the registrar. The registrar had the power to decide the disputes up to Rs 2000 but his decrees
were not enforceable unless countersigned by the judges of the Diwani Adalat, i.e. the
Collector.

Criminal matters- The collector was also given some magisterial powers. As a magistrate,
he had the powers to arrest criminals, hear evidence against them, charge-sheet them if
sufficient evidence was found against them in his opinion and commit the case to the criminal
court to be tried by it. In petty matters he was given power to decide and inflict punishment.
The punishment which the collector could give was up to 15 stripes or 15 days imprisonment.
He had no power to decide cases of higher punishments; he had to refer them to the criminal
court. Unlike the previous systems the British subjects could not be arrested except by the
orders of the Supreme Court but under the scheme of 1787 the collector was authorised to
arrest even the British subjects if a complaint was filed before him and was supported by
evidence sufficient to commit that person to the Supreme Court.

1 In the three cities of patna, Murshidabad and dacca, the adalats were to act
independently of the collectors.

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The plan of 1787 was in consonance with the wishes of the Directors of the Company, but it
was a retrograde step in the administration of justice. Whatever good had been done by
Warren Hastings by separating revenue and judicial functions was undone by this plan which
reunited the two functions.

JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1790 (REORGANISATION OF

CRIMINAL JUDICATURE)
The next step of Cornwallis was his judicial plan of 1790, mainly pertained to the criminal
administration of justice which was suffering from many defects. Warren Hastings had tried
to remove some of those defects, but they continued and required a complete overhaul of
administration of criminal justice. The glaring defects before the reforms of 1790 were:

Degradation of justice: the administration of criminal justice was completely left in the
hands of Muslim officers on whom there was no proper control or supervision. The nawab,
who was given the power to control the administration of criminal justice, did not care any
more about its functioning. The persons who were appointed as judges in the criminal courts
had no legal education, character and integrity. Therefore, they could not be expected to
impart justice. They were also paid very little for their work and the working conditions were
very unhealthy2. The officers engaged in the administration of criminal justice were paid out
of the allowance given to the nawab by the company. Consequently, their salaries were
extremely meagre and insufficient to maintain either the dignity of their office or their
families. These officers therefore could not, therefore keep themselves above temptation and
corruption. These officers had no security of tenure and could be dismissed at any time at the
discretion of the nawab. All had pernicious effect on the system.

Punishment: the moufussil faujdari Adalat had vast powers and they could inflict any
punishment on any person subject to the condition that the death sentence was to be
confirmed by the Sadar nizamat Adalat. The existence of power and the absence of proper
control made these courts autocratic and tyrannical. In many cases, the punishment awarded
to the accused appeared to bear no relation to the nature of the offence. There was no measure
or standard for awarding punishments. A victim of this punishment had to remain in prison
for life totally neglected and forgotten and if any one did obtain his release it was only after
by bribing the officers. In some cases, prisoners completing their terms were to be released on
giving security for good behaviour and if they could not give such security, they had
practically to remain in prison for life.

Administration: the administration of justice was very dilatory. Instances of cases are there
which were not decided as long as ten years and the accused staying in jail waited for trial.
The jails were also in bad condition where the inmates lived an inhuman life and this left a
bad effect on their personality. The prompt execution of the law is the essence of criminal
justice so that people are deterred from committing crimes, but proceedings of the criminal
courts in those days were extremely tardy and dilatory. At times, difficulty of procuring
2 Aspinall, Cornwallis in Bengal, Chapters II & III.

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defence or prosecution witnesses could delay proceedings. But frequently delay was caused
by collision between prisoners and judges and by the negligence and venality of the Mofussil
adalts.

Misapplication of law: murder was the one crime which was less frequently punished than
any other crime. One magistrate gave his opinion that not one man in five hundred who
deserved death penalty was executed. To some extent, this was due to the defect and
inadequacies of Muslim criminal law which left too much discretion to the judges in a very
large number of offences. But more often, it was the result of misapplication of the law by
Adalat due to corruption and venality3. The Bengal revenue consultations of this period are
replete with instances reported by the district magistrates in which either inadequate
punishments were awarded to hardened criminals, or unduly severe punishments were
awarded to innocent persons, or to those who were guilty of less serious crimes. One of the
worst aspects of the prevailing situation was that the dacoits and murderers were protected
and patronised by the zamindars which made it almost impossible to apprehend and try them.
Thsu major crimes were committed with impunity and lawlessness prevailing throughout
Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.

In these circumstances lord Cornwallis decide to introduce reforms in the criminal justice. He
circulated a questionnaire to all the magistrates in the Mofussil area to ascertain their views
about the existing criminal justice system. The replies painted a very grim picture of the
system4. On the basis of these replies Cornwallis came to the conclusion that the criminal
administration of justice should be radically changed and overhauled so as to make it worth
its name. With this idea in mind he promulgated the scheme of 1790 on 3 rd December. The
most outstanding feature of this scheme was the elimination of the name of the nawab from
the administration of the criminal administration was given to English servants of the
company who were to be assisted by the Muslim law officers as advisers.

COURTS CREATED
Three types of courts were created to administer justice in the Mofussil area. At the top was
the Sadar nizamat Adalat, in the middle the circuit court and at lowest level was the court of
district magistrate.

Court of district magistrate: the district magistrate was given the same powers and
functions which he had under the plan of 1787 i.e. he arrested the criminals, took evidence
against them and committed them to the circuit court for trial. In small crimes however he
could punish the criminals up to 15 rattans or 15 days imprisonment. Within his district he
notified the date and time of the visit of the circuit court so that the concerned people could
come before it. He maintained all charts and records to be examined by the circuit court about
the work he had done and about the persons awaiting the trial.

3 Per Burdwan Magistrate.

4 Keith: A Constitutional History Of India, p.106.

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Circuit courts: the entire Mofussil area was divided into 4 divisions. In each division a
circuit court was established. The circuit court consisted of two servants of the company who
administered criminal justice in all the matters presented to it by the district magistrates. The
circuit court was a moving court like the itinerant justices in England. It visited every district
twice a year to try the persons chargesheetd by the magistrate. The circuit court was assisted
by a qazi and mufti for expounding law and proposing Fatwas5 on the facts on record. The
circuit court gave punishment on the Fatwas of the Muslim law officers. If the Fatwa was not
accepted or the sentence related to death and life imprisonment, the case was referred to the
Sadar nizamat Adalat by the circuit court. To maintain the independence of the Muslim law
officers they were given security of tenure and could be removed by the Governor General
and council for incapacity and misconduct.

Sadar nizamat Adalat: the Sadar nizamat Adalat which had its seat in Murshidabad was
transferred to Calcutta where the Governor General and his councils were its judges. They
were assisted by Muslim law officers i.e. a kami and a mufti. In cases which were referred to
the Sadar nizamat Adalat by the circuit court the advice of the qazi and mufti was taken as to
whether the Fatwa given by the officers of the circuit court was confirmable to the facts of the
case or not. The statement of these officers was consulted by the Sadar nizamat Adalat before
it gave its final judgment. The Sadar nizamat Adalat had the power to refer the deserving
cases to the Governor-General and council for mercy6.

Crimes by British subjects: as regards the arrest of British subjects residing in the Mofussil
and accused of committing crimes, the provisions made in 1787 for the purpose were
repeated. It was only in 1793 that he position improved somewhat in this connection. To
improve control over these people, the charter act of 1793 enacted by parliament authorised
the Governor-General in council to appoint justices of the peace from amongst the companys
covenanted servants or other British inhabitants. Their appointments were to issue under seal
of the Supreme Court. These justices were not to sit on any court of oyer and terminer unless
called upon to do so. Any conviction by a justice of the peace outside the court of oyer and
terminer was removable by a writ of certiorari within 6 months into the Supreme Court.

Some other important features of the system of 1790 were the abolition of the office of the
remembrancer which had been created by Warren Hastings. Secondly, the officers of the court
were increased so that they could take full interest in their work and could not be easily
bribed.

The system created in 1790 worked well. The only defect which emerged in the system was
the excess of work in the circuit courts. The number of circuit courts was small for the area
and number of cases was very large. For this reason the arrears of work began to increase.
Therefore, in 1792 Cornwallis gave some more powers to the magistrates to give punishment

5 Fatwa is the urdu word denoting the law applicable to the circumstances of the
case. It was to be according to the Mohammedan Law.

6 Jain: Outlines of Indian Legal History, p.145.

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in cases up to 30 strips or one months imprisonment. Some more reforms were introduced on
the criminal side before the final plan of 1793. There was a provision for allowance to the
prosecutors and witnesses who came to the law courts. The provision for the attachment of
the property of the accused during the trial was abolished. Finally, provision was made for the
payment of an amount not exceeding 5 rupees to the convicts on their release from jail for
meeting their necessary expenses for a month. This was done for the purpose of rehabilitation
of the criminal so that he may not be compelled to commit crimes and could start a new life.

JUDICIAL PLAN OF 1793

The scheme introduced by Lord Cornwallis during the last year of his tenure has been an
outstanding achievement of his life and a great step in the development of the Indian legal
system. The scheme introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1787 was fundamentally unsound and
it proved to be so in practice. The collector who had been vested with so many powers very
soon became an autocrat and neglected his judicial functions. Actually, his main function was
the collection of land revenue on which his future prospects, promotions and remunerations
depended. Therefore he was more concerned with the collection of land revenue and hardly
cared for judicial work. Consequently judicial work suffered and arrears increased. The
diwani Adalat had 30000 cases pending for several years. The collector being responsible for
collection of land revenue could not be expected to give impartial justice in his own case.
This arrangement was against natural justice. Due to these effects it was necessary that a new
and reformed system to be devised. Therefore the scheme of 1793 made far-reaching and
fundamental changes for the first time in the legal system of the company and the country.

GENERAL FEATURES
The General features of the scheme may be called as the basic postulates of the scheme. They
related to those aspects of the judicial administration which lay at the root of proper judicial
system. The following were the features introduced by this scheme7.

Separation of executive and judiciary- the most important part of this scheme was the
separation of the judicial and executive functions which had been blended together under the
scheme of 1787. The collector who had been vested with all the judicial powers in civil,
criminal and revenue matters was divested of those powers and was left only with the power
to collect land revenue. Henceforth, he would not decide any dispute relating to land revenue,
civil or criminal matters. The policy of separating the two functions was put into practice by
Regulation II of 1793 which abolished the mal Adalat and transferred the suits triable there to
the Mofussil diwani Adalat.

Control of judiciary over executive- by Regulation III, section 10 , all executive officers
including the collector were made amenable to the jurisdiction of the courts personally, i.e. a
person could file a suit in the Diwani Adalat against any officer personally, if he committed
any wrong or violated any regulation made by the Government. In this way for the first time a
privilege was given to the people against the companys officers who committed any wrong

7 Jain: Outlines of Indian Legal History. P. 133

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against them. Prior to it the only remedy available to them was to move a petition to the
Governor General and council at Calcutta. It could hardly be availed of by the people living
at far off places. This indeed was a remarkable step and a radical departure from the past. By
making the officers subject to judicial control, and making them personally liable for
damages awarded against them for violating the law, the idea that officers were above the law
and could transgress law and could commit oppression with impunity was sought to be
eradicated. Cornwallis thus took a great step forward in establishing sovereignty and rule of
law and safeguarding the person and property of the people.

Government liability- for the first time the liability of the government for its wrongs and for
the wrongs of its officers committed during the course of their duties was recognised. Any
person could file a suit for damages in the diwani Adalat against the government in the same
way as he could file against any private person. This provision made the government more
responsible towards the people and it carried its work in a more responsive way. Not only
this, Cornwallis even advocated the principle where government is a party with its subjects
regarding property, it should submit its rights to be tried through the medium of its officers in
the courts of justice.8

British subjects made amenable to diwani Adalat- the position uptil now was that if a
British subject committed any wrong in the Mofussil area, the only remedy available to an
Indian was that he could inform the collector who could refer the matter to the Supreme court
or he could file a suit in the supreme court against the concerned British subject. The position
concerned was very hard for the native people, who could hardly reach the Supreme Court
because of their poverty and difficult means of communication. Therefore, in practice native
Indians did not have any remedy against the British subjects for the wrongs of the latter. To
change this inequitable position, the diwani Adalat was given power for not allowing any
British subject to live beyond 10 miles from Calcutta unless he executed a bond to the effect
that he shall be liable to the jurisdiction of the court in cases up to the value of Rs. 500 9.
Apart from this if a British subject filed a suit in a diwani Adalat he was subject to the
jurisdiction of that court for all consequences that would follow that suit or in an appeal
against the decision of the original court. In this way a much needed provision was
introduced by the scheme though its effect and extent was limited. It was however of a
limited efficacy for claims over 500 rupees against the British subject had still to be instituted
in the Supreme Court and not in the Companys Adalat.

REORGANISATION OF COURTS
The courts, particularly the courts of civil justice were fully reorganised. The changes may be
expressed under two broad headings of civil and criminal judiciary.

8 Cowell: History and Constitution of the Courts and Legislative Authorities in

India, p.175.

9 Sec. 6 of Reg XIII of 1793.

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Civil Judiciary- a complete hierarchy of courts was established to deal with civil matters. In
this hierarchy at the top was the Sadar diwani Adalat and in the bottom were the courts of
Munsif and Ameens. The jurisdiction and constitution of these courts may be mentioned in
brief.

Sadar diwani Adalat- the Sadar diwani Adalat was the highest court in the judicial hierarchy
which consisted, as usual of the Governor General and council. It heard appeals against the
decisions of the provincial courts of appeal in matters exceeding Rs 1000. An appeal against
the decisions of this court could go to the king-in-council in matters exceeding 5000 euros.

The changes introduced in the powers and functions of this court related to the supervision
and control of the lower judiciary. In that capacity the court could receive any original suit to
be referred to the provincial court of appeal or to the diwani Adalat, if either of them had
neglected to entertain the matter. It also heard and decided charges of corruption and
impotency against the judges of the provincial appellate courts and the diwani Adalat and
gave proper punishments. In this way the lower courts were fully and directly subjected to the
control of the Sadar diwani Adalat.

Provincial court of appeal- before the scheme of 1793 the only appellate court was the
Sadar diwani Adalat with its seat at Calcutta which was hardly accessible to the people living
in the interior. The court did not have enough time to decide the appeals which came before it
and Generally, they remained pending for several years. So in practice very few appeals were
made to the Sadar diwani Adalat and that too only by those who could afford to go to
Calcutta. Indirectly it amounted to the absence of any appellate court. To avoid all these
defects and increase efficiency a court of first appeal was established in each of four divisions
of Patna, Dacca, Calcutta and Murshidabad with the name of provincial court of appeal. The
provincial court of appeal consisted of three British servants of the comapny as its judges.
The provincial court of appeals had the jurisdiction to try civil suits referred to it by the
government or the Sadar diwani Adalat; to entertain and refer back to diwani Adalat those
cases which it had refused to entertain; to hear appeals in all matters against the decisions of
the diwani Adalat, if filed within three months, and lastly, to receive charges of corruption
against the judges of the diwani Adalat and send them to the Sadar diwani Adalat with its
report. In this way the court apart from being court of appeal in all matters also had direct
control over the subordinate courts, i.e. the diwani Adalat.

Diwani Adalat- at the district level the diwani Adalat was reorganised by dislodging the
collector from its judgeship and appointing a civil servant of the company in his place as its
judge who had no other work except deciding the civil and revenue disputes. The judge was
required to take an oath of impartiality and was also required to keep proper records of all the
proceedings and hold the court in open so that it could be seen by the people that justice was
actually being administered.

Registrar courts- the diwani Adalat could refer the suits up to the value of Rs 200 to the
court of registrar which was held by a servant of the company. The decrees and orders of the
registrar were countersigned by the judge of the diwani Adalat before they came into effect.

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This court gave an opportunity to the diwani Adalat to concentrate on more difficult and
important cases.

Munsif courts- to bring justice nearer to the people and to avoid inconvenience in matters of
small value, provision was made by regulation XI for issuing commissions to zamindars,
landholders, tehsildars and other respectable persons appointing them as Munsifs to try suits
up to the value of Rs 50. Munsifs were appointe d in such a number that no person was
required to travel more than 10 miles to file a suit. Suits could be filed directly in the
Munsifs courts but they could be executed only by the diwani Adalat. The first appeal
against the decision of the Munsifs went to the diwani Adalat and then to the provincial court
of appeal. The institution of Munsifs court was undoubtedly a great boon to the people as
they being natives had better knowledge of the local customs usage and circumstances.

Ameens court- a court of amen, junior to Munsif was created which had almost the same
composition and powers as the court of Munsif with the exception that it could not entertain a
case directly unless referred to it by the diwani Adalat. An arbitrator could decide a suit if
both the parties executed an arbitration bond. Decisions of an arbitrator were not to be set
aside by the Adalat except for his corruption or partiality. His decision could be enforced only
by the Adalat and not by himself directly. On the whole, Munsiffs, Ameens or arbitrators
were to be appointed in such a manner that no person was required to travel beyond ten miles
to answer any suit preferred against them.

Criminal judicature- the scheme of criminal judicature introduced in 1790 was left intact in
1793 subject to only a few changes. These changes became necessary to achieve coordination
between the criminal and civil judicature. Regulation IX of 1793 practically re-enacted the
scheme of 1790 with the following modifications: 1) in 1790, collectors were to act as
magistrates. Consistent with the policy adopted in 1793 of depriving the collectors of judicial
power and keeping them merely as executive officers magisterial officers, magisterial
functions were now transferred to the judges of the Mofussil diwani Adalat. 2) The judicial
powers of the magistrate were redefined. They could punish petty offences by imprisonment
up to 15 days or by a fine up to Rs 100. 3) The courts of circuit established in 1790 and the
provincial courts of appeal being established in 1793 were merged to create 4 courts of appeal
and circuit. Each such court was to consist of three English judges. The court was to break
itself into two divisions which were to go on circuit simultaneously.

Legislative methods and form of regulation- since 1772, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa had
been ruled through Regulations made by the government at Calcutta but there did not exist
any General code of these regulations. Regulations were usually drawn without any form.
Cornwallis therefore desired to effect some reforms in the legislative methods and forms with
a view to ensure that the Regulations making power was exercised in a more formal manner.
Henceforth each regulation was to have a title expressing its subject as concisely as possible.
Each regulation and clauses were to be numbered serially. Each section was to have the
marginal note to show the subject given within it. Regulations of each year were to be
recorded properly, printed, published and circulated regularly so that they could be made
available to the people and the courts and authorities to whom they were concerned. At the

11
end of the year all regulations passed in that year were compiled into volumes and an index
was prepared for all of them. The regulations introduced by Cornwallis were collectively
called as Cornwallis code. To make the regulations accessible to the natives they were also
translated in Persian and Bengali languages10.

Position of native law officers improved: help of native law officers was taken from the
very beginning of the Adalat system under the rule of the company to expound principles of
Hindu and Mohammed and law. But reputation and position of these officers was not good.
They were Generally found indulging in corrupt practices. To improve their lot, regulation
XII of 1793 provided that the law officers shall be appointed by the Governor-General and
council from amongst the people of good character, integrity and skilled in law. They were
given security of tenure and could be dismissed only for incapacity or misconduct in their
public duty, proved to the satisfaction of the Governor General and council. They were
required to take an oath before they assumed their office 11. These provisions gave self-
confidence and self-esteem to the law officers as well as reposed peoples faith in them.
These provisions had a long and salutary lasting impact on position of the Indian law officers
and judiciary of the legal system.

Court fees- in his anxiety to make justice easily accessible to all, Cornwallis took a radical
step of abolishing the court fees. Before 1793, court fees on a sliding scale between 2-5% on
the cause of action had to be paid by the plaintiff. This made litigation costly for, in addition
to court fees, parties had also to incur expenses on fees of the vakeel, travel from their homes
to the Adalat etc. the payment of court fees was a hardship to the people, and even amounted
to denial of justice to those who could not pursue their claims because of their inability to pay
the court fees.

EVALUATION OF THE PLAN OF 1793:

In the light of the legal developments since the establishment of the East India Company, it is
clear that the judicial system of 1793 introduced by Lord Cornwallis was the most logical,
comprehensive, well planned and foresighted. Cornwallis reforms of 1793 were based on
two basic postulates of the British Constitutional Law, viz., and separation of the judiciary
from the executive and the subjection of the executive to judicial control. Cornwallis believed
that no system could ever effective so long as its due execution depended solely on the
personal qualifications of the individuals appointed to work it. The security of person and
property must be established by a system upheld by its own inherent principles. Cornwallis
devised a scheme of 1793 which, from all standards and tests, constituted an exquisite system
to afford protection to person and property. The subsequent changes made in the Adalat
system introduced by Cornwallis were dictated mostly by the practical need to cope with the
load coming before the Adalat. These changes followed six main lines of development.
10 Jain, M.P.: Outlines of Indian Legal History. P.197

11 History and Constitution of the Courts and Legislative Authorities in India, p.

177.

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Firstly, the policy of disturbing justice free of cost was negative within a short time thus
knocking out an important tenet on which the system of 1793 was based. Secondly, there was
gradual evolution of the subordinate judiciary below the district Adalat. Thirdly, the Indians
gradually secured an increasingly larger share in the function of administration to justice.
Fourthly, applying the principle of separation of powers between the executive and the
judiciary, the Sadar Adalat were separated from the executive and placed under separate
judges. Fifthly, the principle of separation was gradually negated at the lower level insofar as
the decision of revenue matters was handed over to the collectors in course of time. Sixthly,
gradually, the right of appeal from the lower to the higher courts was curtailed.

Many of the defects that existed in the earlier schemes disappeared and the courts functioned
with great efficiency, independence and judicious outlook. For the first time the rule of law
was established in the Mofussil area. In spite of these advantages a few defects were found in
the scheme in course of time. They were:

1. The provision for two or three appeals in civil cases increased the arrears of work in
the appellate courts. The provision for appeals made with a purpose of avoiding any
and every chance of injustice made the process very slow. The over cautiousness thus
proved to be a curse instead of a blessing.
2. Indians were excluded from the judiciary except at the level of Munsif. Such distrust
in Indians generated the dissatisfaction amongst them as well as made the system less
efficient and to some extent artificial because the English servants did not know or
understand the customs, usage, needs and circumstances of the people. Cornwallis
laboured under the impression that Indians were unreliable and could easily be
influenced. This impression reflected his attitude for lack of understanding of the
people of this country. If Indians were paid the same remuneration as British, they
would have worked with the same, if not more, integrity and responsibility as the
British. The directors of the company realised it and had expressed as early as 1786
that when the talents of the more respectable native can with propriety and safety be
employed in the management of the country, we think it both just and political to
carry that principal into effect. The natives in General are most competent to the
duties of detail in that climate and in fact have always conducted that laborious part of
them. Slowly the government came to realize it and in due course employed more
and more Indians successively.
3. Cornwallis did everything on structural and procedural side but he could not do much
to reform the substantive law particularly the criminal law which was based on
Muslim law and suffered from a number of defects. Absence of any law on many
points left the courts to be guided by their own discretion. Had Cornwallis stayed for
some time perhaps he would have done something in this regard also. But as he had to
leave in 1793, this part of the matter was left to be attended by his successors.

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 CONCLUSION
The Governor General ship of Lord Cornwallis which extended from 1786 to creative
constitutes a very remarkable and a highly creative period in Indian Legal History.

He introduced for the first time the principle of administration according to law. The Adalat
System left behind by him won praise and encomium from all quarters. The system
introduced envisaged a division of revenue and judicial functions and their vesting in distinct
functionaries. Cornwallis introduced changes in the judicial system thrice: first, in 1787; then
in 1790 and, finally, in 1793. By the time he left India, he had thoroughly reorganized the
judicial system, both civil and criminal, in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and placed it on an
entirely new basis. He introduced for the first time the principle of administration according
to law. The Adalat system left behind by him won praise and encomium. It enjoyed such a
high place in the esteem of the people as well as the administrators that it was adopted as the
model for the judicial systems introduced later in the Provinces of Madras and Bombay.

Cornwallis received critical assistance from others in his effort to introduce legal reforms.
William Jones, an expert on languages, translated existing Hindu and Muslim penal codes
into English so that they could be evaluated and applied by English-speaking judges.
Cornwallis began in 1787 by giving limited criminal judicial powers to the company's
revenue collectors, who already also served as civil magistrates. He also required them to
report regularly on detention times and sentences given. In 1790 the company took over the
administration of justice from the Nawab, and Cornwallis introduced a system of circuit
courts with a superior Judges were drawn from the company's European employees. These
reforms also included changes to the penal codes to begin harmonizing the different codes
then in use. By the time of his departure in 1793 his work on the penal code, known in India
as the Cornwallis Code, was substantially complete. One consequence of the Cornwallis
Code was that it, in effect, institutionalized racism in the legal system. Cornwallis, in a
manner not uncommon at the time, believed that well-bred gentlemen of European extraction
were superior to others, including those that were the product of mixed relationships in India.
Of the latter, he wrote "as on account of their colour & extraction they are considered in this
country as inferior to Europeans, I am of opinion that those of them who possess the best
abilities could not command that authority and respect which is necessary in the due
discharge of the duty of an officer." In 1791 he issued an order that "No person, the son of a
Native Indian, shall henceforward be appointed by this Court to Employment in the Civil,
Military, or Marine Service of the Company." Cornwallis's biographers, the Wick wires, also
observe that this institutionalization of the British as an elite class simply added another layer
on top of the complex status hierarchy of caste and religion that existed in India at the time.
Cornwallis could not have formalized these policies without the (tacit or explicit) agreement
of the company's directors and employees. Cornwallis's attitude toward the lower classes did,

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however, include a benevolent and somewhat paternalistic desire to improve their condition.
He introduced legislation to protect native weavers who were sometimes forced into working
at starvation wages by unscrupulous company employees, outlawed child slavery, and
established in 1791 a Sanskrit college for Hindus that is now the Government Sanskrit
College in Benares. He also established a mint in Calcutta that, in addition to benefiting the
poor by providing a reliable standard currency, was a forerunner India's modern currency.

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 REFERENCES
BOOKS

1. M.P. Singh, Outlines of Indian legal and Constitutional History, 8 th Edn. (Universal
Law Publishing, 2006)
2. M.P. Jain, Indian Legal and Constitutional History, 9th Edn (Lexis-Nexis Publsihers,
2006)
3. V.D. Kulshetra, Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History 8 th Edn.
(Eastern Book Company, 2006)
4. J.K. Mittal, Indian Legal History (Central Law Agency, 2005).

WEBSITES

1. http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/reforms-brought-by-lord-
cornwallis/2555
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwallis_in_India
3. http://holisticthought.com/india-under-the-british-lord-cornwallis/
4. http://www.realityviews.in/2010/05/part-14-indian-legal-history-cornwallis.html
5. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/india/cornw.htm

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