Unit 2 of History of Courts, Legislature and Legal Profession (syllabus: Module II — the conflicts arising out of the dual judicial system; the Indian High Courts Act 1861 and the fusion of the Supreme Courts with the Sadar Adalats; the High Courts after 1861; the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the routes and thresholds of appeal from the Mayor’s Courts, the Supreme Courts, the Recorder’s Courts, the Sadar Diwani Adalats, the High Courts and the Federal Court; the abolition of Privy Council appeals in 1949; and the Federal Court under the Government of India Act 1935). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- What is meant by the dual judicial system, and why was it a source of conflict?
- Under what four heads do the conflicts arising out of the dual judicial system fall?
- What did the Indian High Courts Act 1861 provide?
- What did the Indian High Courts Act 1861 achieve, and why is it called a landmark?
- What is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and why does it not deliver judgments?
- From which Indian courts did an appeal lie to the King in Council, and on what money value?
- How should the contribution of the Privy Council to Indian law be assessed?
- What was the Federal Court, what jurisdiction did it have, and why was it not final?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Leading cases
- Cossijurah's Case
- Andrew Hunter v. Raja of Burdwan