Indian Legal System: An Overview
The Constitution of India was adopted on 26th November 1949. It is based on the Government of India Act, 1935. The Constitution of India is the bulkiest in the world and a product of the aspirations of the people. It is not a parliamentary creation but “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” qualifying it as the largest democracy in the world. The Preamble to the Constitution establishes India as a “Sovereign, Socialist, Democratic Republic.”
The Indian Constitution is federal in nature, but unitary in spirit. Meaning by, that the quality of governance in India is neither completely central not entirely unitary; it is quasi-federal. India has the Parliamentary or Cabinet form of government, at the state as well as the union level. In a parliamentary democracy, there is an inter-dependency between the executive and the legislature. The Judiciary enjoys an independent status. The Indian Constitution provides for a bicameral parliament whereby the Parliament comprises two houses; The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). At the state level as well, the legislature has two houses; Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) and Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council).
Indian Judicial System does not come under the control of either the legislature or the executive. Indian Judiciary comprises a Supreme Court, High Courts for every State, District Courts, and other local-level subordinate courts. The Supreme Court of India is the highest in the country and is the custodian of the Constitution. It has the absolute power and control over the country’s judicial administration, and its decisions are binding on the rest of Indian courts.
We are tracing the development of the Indian legal system through three characteristics phases — (i)Pre Colonial Legal History, (ii) Common Law Legal System, and (iii) Development post Independence.
(i) Pre Colonial Legal History:
The first recorded Indian Legal structure can be traced to Vedic times. Classical Hindu law is based on the concept of ‘dharma.’ One of the most revered sources of ancient legal literature is Manusmriti. It established certain fundamental principles that governed the conduct of civil society. Similarly, Dharma Shastra contains rules that an individual ought to follow to lead an ideal human life. The Mughal Sultanate gave a plurality to the existing legal structure and became an essential forum of judicial administration. It becomes pertinent to state that during the ancient and medieval systems, the Indian legal system had no uniform institutional structure and varied greatly from one regime to another.
(ii) British Legal System
In India, the British East India Company brought in the Common Law System. As per this system, the legal proceedings were based on the hitherto documented court precedents. The Company gradually started losing administrative control, and in 1857, the territories governed by the Company came under the British Crown. This marked a significant transition in the legal system of India. The setting up of courts (Supreme Court, High Courts, and other lower courts) in their hierarchical order, marked the development of a new legal system under the British Empire. The first law commission was established in 1834 (Charter of 1833) under the aegis of Lord Macaulay and was done to codify the penal laws of the country.
(iii) Legal System Post-Independence
The modern-day legal framework of India has undergone an evolution from the ancient (unorganized) to the colonial times wherein seeds of standardization were sown. The common law legal tradition acted as a precursor to our constitutional design and posted independent legislative endeavors. As of today, there are a plethora of legislative enactments having its origin traced to the Common Law legal family. A manifest example of it would be our criminal justice system wherein the principal enactment i.e., IPC (Indian Penal Code), is a gift from William Mackauley.
Our Constitution envisages a welfare state acting as ‘Parens Patriae.’ Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines on human rights law and environmental law. Specific international trade laws, such as those on intellectual property, are also enforced in India.
Law-making in India and Sources of Law
Law-making in a democratic form of government is an exclusive domain of parliamentarians. Indian Constitution empowers the State to make laws governing the society (Article 12). However, legislative design is subject to adherence to constitutional principles and rights (Article 13). The State can’t make any laws that are in derogation or violates fundamental rights.
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The most prominent source of law in modern India is legislative enactments by representatives. However, there are some other significant sources of law in India stated as below:
● Judicial Precedents
● Customs, Usages, and Tradition
Administration of the legal system in India is done by Judiciary, which is an independent organ in democracy, and the Constitution of India expressly endorses independence of the Judiciary. The judicial system in India is pyramidal in its hierarchy with the Supreme Court sitting at the top of the pyramid.
Conclusion
The legal system in India has drastically changed since colonial times. There are criticisms directed towards the existing legal framework as not responding to the challenge of contemporary society and with its identification as a Common Law legal system. However, Judicial activism has resulted in liberal interpretations of the text. Pronouncements such as Navtej Johar are a resounding example of the evolution of our legal system.
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