This paper analyses how codification project led to less friendly legal system in India which was different from traditional customary practice.
Authors
Shashank Maheshwari, Assistant Lecturer, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Priyanka Kushwah, Senior Research Fellow, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
Contemporary legal system of India is called modern legal system mostly foreign in origin and different from traditional legal system of India. But nothing can be done in one night and similarly, modern legal system which is followed in present India has experienced a phase of transition where India was struggling with its traditional beliefs and values system along with new implemented modern legal system.
This paper firstly gives a brief introduction on how colonist changes traditional legal system in India which can be studied with the help of writing of Lakshmi Subramanian. This case. Analyse the tradition period how the courts and merchant ’s identities changed during 1800. This was the era of transition when company rule began in administrative, civil and criminal matters but in order to keep the support of public in terms of finance and to avoid conflict English east India company did not fully denied the importance of traditional legal system.
To order to better understand the social transformation from traditional to modern legal system it is necessary to understand as what constitutes traditional legal system. It is later on used to compare modern legal system with traditional legal system along with the compromises made during transition. This can be easily done by understanding and analysing writings of Marc Galanter. The writing of Lakshmi Subramanian analyse the compromises made during the transition period.
It is the time when though company rule was applicable in some parts of India but because company understood the fact that culture, values and tradition of India cannot be separated from its people, it still followed some aspect of traditional legal system. During the transition period, Britishers has realised that they cannot go away with the Indian tradition and hence in order to have a better control over Indian legal system they began the project of codification of customary practices prevalent in India.
However, it differed from the actual practices because they could only codify those practices which is in written form. Later, this paper analyse how codification project led to less friendly legal system in India which was different from traditional customary practice. Lastly, paper conclude with the analyses whether social transformation brought by codification of customary practices is advantageous or not?
Published in: Res Militaris
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