Even after this reform, the Adalat system was not able to achieve the perfection so desired by Hastings, but the existence of such a system of judicial administration in itself was commendable. This system led to the court system that still exists today. The 1772 plan was evaluated for its effectiveness, which was a commendable achievement for Warren Hastings given the limited resources available. Sir John William Kaye had rightly called him “the children`s administrator” because, given that the business was still in its infancy, it was a great achievement for the Governor of Bengal to introduce such a system. This system has been praised for its impartiality, efficiency and ease of access to the public who have not had to go to provincial courts, saving them time and money. The old commission system required by the judges of the parties has now been replaced by court fees that were to go to the government, thereby increasing government revenues while minimizing the culture of corruption. With the advent of the Adalat system, the judicial powers of the zamindars were also abolished, ending the oppression of the peasants. With the dissolution of the Mughal Empire and the weakening of the power of the Nawabs in Bengal and the surrounding regions, the only judicial body that existed also collapsed in such a way that anyone who had local authority or power (Zamindars, etc.) also began to exercise judicial power to achieve self-glorification. Now the Kazis were selected not on merit or character, but on the level of favor they passed on to officials. And since they were not meritorious, they began to abuse their power, because there was no system of control for them. But the control exercised by this officer was very weak and imperfect. The system has not proven to be effective.

The Remembrancer relied on information on the reports of various courts, and it was not difficult for them to manipulate them to give a favorable picture of things and hide the real situation from the Government.In In 1782, the number of Faujdari Adalats was reduced from twenty-three to eighteen. Whereas in 1785, for a faster and more efficient administration of the criminal justice system, judges were empowered to convict minor offences; but in all cases involving the life and physical integrity of the accused or subjecting them to a prison sentence of more than four days or corporal punishment of more than fifteen stripes, the judges could not themselves bring the accused to justice, but could send them to the Faujdari Adalats. This particular arrangement was made shortly after Warren Hastings left for England. [12] The system was ahead of its time. The Governor-General of Bengal has tried to remedy every minor shortcoming. The system thus created was also supported by the Regulation Act of 1773, which led to the creation of the Supreme Court with the aim of separating the administration of justice from the tax administration, since the two were very closely linked, since the same officials often have both the tasks of collecting controls and jurisprudence, but this has still not been achieved in accordance with expectations and therefore another attempt was made for: the deficiency in the form of a reorganization of the Adalat system in 1780, which observed the official separation of the tax and judicial administration. The provincial councils, responsible for both collecting taxes and mediating justice, were now limited to collecting revenues and dealing with tax cases, while the entire judicial function was performed by the Diwan-Adalates, who were also established in each of the provincial councils, namely Calcutta, Murshidabad, Dhaka, Burdwan, Dinapur and Patna. Tax administration was a crucial function for the British, not to mention the fact that it was one of the main sources of their finances, but to generate income, it was important that there were goods in the provinces and that prosperity could only be maintained if there was an order of peace so that people would not be distracted from their professional work. especially those who are active in agriculture. Such a state of peace would have given them the impetus to improve so that they could finally cope with the government`s contributions. This peace and order, in turn, depended on the security of life and property, which could only have been ensured if there had been an adequate judicial system, which was lacking at the time. Indian legal history is a vast subject that has been shortened by most legal textbooks into a boring and linear subject, leading to a general aversion to the subject.

Through this School of Law blog, Christ University hopes to revive this interest in this brilliant area of Indian law while being a central information on the subject for the coming days. Criminal Justice: A Mofussil Faujdari (or Nizamat) Adalat has been established in each district for the trial of crimes and misdemeanours. [2] This court was assisted by a Kazi or Mufti and two Maulvies explaining the law, while the collector had the general supervision of the court. The court has full authority to decide and punish all criminal cases, although it does not have the power to impose the death penalty. In such cases, the court`s decision was submitted to Sadar Nizamat Adalat for confirmation and finally to Nawab for his conviction. Sadar Nizamat Adalat, founded in Calcutta, was headed by an Indian judge named Daroga-i-Adalat, who was to be assisted by Chief Kazi, Chief Mufti and three Maulvies to hear the appointments of Faujdari Adalat. Tax Administration: The entire tax system was reorganized as part of the Hastings Plan of 1772. The tax authorities of Murshidabad and Patna were abolished and in Kolkata, a supreme authority called the Revenue Council was established, consisting of the governor and all members of the council.

The Ministry of Finance was also transferred to Kolkata. In addition, district supervisors were appointed revenue collectors and also native Naib Diwans as chief of the indigenous executive in the districts. Elijah Impey was therefore appointed sole judge of Sadar Diwani Adalat in October 1780.[3] He held this position until November 1782, when he was recalled to England. In the discharge of his new duties, Impey prepared thirteen articles of ordinances on the conduct of civil courts. They were then incorporated with additions and modifications into a revised code consisting of ninety-five articles, adopted in July 1781. This was the first Code of Civil Procedure in India. The objective was to explain rules, ordinances and regulations that might be ambiguous, to revoke those that might be repugnant or outdated, to formulate a uniform code, to formulate the procedure and jurisdiction of civil courts, to prescribe a general table of fees, to make the law of civil procedure recognizable to the people, to provide for arbitration and appeals before the Sadar Diwani Adalat, to provide for the limitation of actions, in most cases to impose a twelve-year time limit, to protect litigants from blackmail or fraud by unscrupulous court officials, etc. Impey Reforms: Sir Impey remained in his office for about a year, but during that time he made some very important reforms in the administration of the judiciary at that time. It has issued regulations to improve all existing courts in the Mofussil area.

These rules have made the following new changes.1. The Diwani Adalat of the divisions were tasked with hearing all cases before the public court after taking an oath to witnesses. Law enforcement officers were to be appointed only for the purpose of explaining the law on the facts that the court had decided, i.e. officials did not have the power to rule on the facts or to hear witnesses or parties. The procedure followed in the Patna case for the judicial officers to report the case to the court was laid down by this regulation.2. The number of Diwani Adalats has been increased from 6 to 18 to avoid inconvenience for people coming from long distances and also to reduce work backlogs.3. The most important work Impey did was the drafting of a Code of Civil Procedure, the first of its kind ever introduced in this country. The code was promulgated by the Governor General and the Council on July 5, 1781. While the Code did not make far-reaching changes, it did put the law on a solid and specific foundation so that people could know what the court procedure looked like. It also required the courts to follow the procedure set out therein. The Code contained 95 clauses.4. The provision on the application of personal law in certain categories of cases, namely inheritance, marriage, caste and other religious practices or institutions, was incomplete with regard to the decision-making rule in other cases.

In addition, Impey added the word “succession” to the word “inheritance” and filled this gap by providing that, in all cases for which no specific instruction was given, Sadar Diwani Adalat and Mofussil Diwani Adalats should act according to justice, equality and good conscience. This was a remarkable provision that complemented the rule of decision in all civil cases of Hindus and Muslims.