Legal and Constitutional History

Unit I — Legal Institutions in Ancient and Medieval India

Sources of Law in Ancient India: Concept and Sources of Dharma, Veda, Dharmasutra, Dharma Shastra, Smiriti; Manu and Yajnavalkya, Tradition and Good Custom, Types of Courts and Procedures · Legal Traditions in Medieval India: Sources of Islamic Law (Quran, Hadis, Ijma, Qiyas), Salient Features of Islamic Criminal Law, Hanafi School of Thought

Unit II — Early Colonial Legal Developments (1600–1773)

Charters of the East India Company: 1600, 1661, 1726, 1753 · Establishment of Company Settlements: Surat, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta · Judicial administration in Presidency Towns before 1726 · Mayor’s Courts under the Charter of 1726: establishment, jurisdiction, defects · Charter of 1753 and its implications · Transition from trading body to territorial sovereign

Unit III — Establishment of Crown’s Courts and Initial Judicial Conflicts

Regulating Act, 1773: Provisions and significance · Supreme Court at Calcutta (Charter of 1774): powers, jurisdiction · Conflicts between Supreme Court and Council: · Trial of Raja Nand Kumar (1775) · The Patna Case (1777–79) · The Cossijurah Case (1779–80) · Act of Settlement, 1781: resolution of jurisdictional issues · Supreme Courts at Bombay and Madras

• Regulating Act of 1773: Provisions of the Act, Establishment of Supreme Court at
• Settlement Act of 1781
• Conflict Arising out of the Dual Judicial System & Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
• Conflict Arising out of the Dual Judicial System

Unit IV — The Adalat System and Judicial Reforms

Grant of Diwani and establishment of Adalat system · Warren Hastings’ Judicial Plans: 1772, 1774, 1780 · Lord Cornwallis’ Reforms: Judicial Plans of 1787, 1790, and 1793 · Lord William Bentinck’s reforms: focus on criminal justice and legal structure · First Civil Code and introduction of formal legal procedures

• Judicial Reforms of Lord Cornwallis — Judicial Plan of 1787, Judicial Plan of 1790, Judicial Plan of 1793, Progress of Adalat System under Sir John Shore

Unit V — Codification and Development of Legal Institutions

Charter Act of 1833 and the First Law Commission · Charter Act of 1853 and the Second Law Commission · Subsequent Law Commissions and their contributions · Development of personal laws and application of 'justice, equity and good conscience' · Legal development in Presidency Towns vs. Mufassil areas

• Charter Acts from 1773 to 1853
• Charter of 1813 &1833

Unit VI — High Courts, Privy Council, and the Federal Court

Indian High Courts Act, 1861: structure and jurisdiction · Establishment and functioning of High Courts · The Privy Council: appeals, role as the highest court, and its appraisal · Establishment of the Federal Court (1937): jurisdiction, significance, and limitations · Evaluation of colonial legal institutions: racial discrimination, merit and demerits

• Indian High Court Act1861, High Court under GOI Act 1915, High Court under GOI Act 1935
• Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
• Appeals to Privy Council between 1726–1860, Appeals to Privy Council between 1861–1949

Unit VII — Constitutional Development under British Rule

Indian Councils Acts: 1861, 1892, 1909 (Minto-Morley Reforms) · Government of India Acts: 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms) and 1935 (provincial autonomy, federal structure, Federal Court) · Rise of Indian political consciousness and legal reforms · Contributions of the Indian National Movement to constitutional evolution: Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India Movement

• Establishment of the Indian National Congress and the work of Moderates (1885–1905)
• Indian Councils Act of 1892
• Indian Councils Act of 1909
• August Declaration (1917) and Montagu-Chelmsford Report (1918)
• The Government of India Act 1919 and its consequences
• Civil Disobedience Movement and Government of India Act, 1935
• Indian Council Act of 1861, 1892 & 1909
• Government of India Act, 1919 & 1935

Unit VIII — From Colonial Rule to Constitution Making

Key milestones: · Commonwealth of India Bill (1925) · Nehru Report (1928) · Karachi Resolution (1931) · Sapru Committee proposals · Cripps Mission, Wavell Plan, Cabinet Mission Plan · Mountbatten Plan and the Indian Independence Act, 1947 · Constituent Assembly and the making of the Indian Constitution: framing of Federalism, Judiciary, Fundamental Rights, and Directive Principles

• Simon Commission (1927), Nehru Report (1928) and Round Table Conferences
• Cripps Mission (1942), Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) and the Indian Independence Act (1947)
• Making of the Constitution — CAD: Constituent Assembly Debates
• Historical background and framing of the Indian Constitution
• Indian Independence Act, 1947