UNIT 6: BRITISH ADMINISTRATION AND LAW

Structure
6.0 Objective
6.1 Introduction
6.2 The Background
6.2.1 British Thinking on Administration
6.2.2 British interests
6.3 Institutional Framework
6.3.1 Judicial System
6.3.2 Administrative System
6.3.3 Extent of Indian Participation
6.4 Let Us Sum Up
6.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

6.0 OBJECIVES
This Unit talks about how the structure of administration and judiciary were
gradually being built up by the British. This would involve looking at the
ideological orientation and specific requirements of the rulers on the one hand,
and the various changes and innovations made in the field of administration, on
the other. In this Unit you will study:
 various ideas and elements that went into the making of the British
administrative policy
 the institutional framework that evolved in accordance with that policy,
and
 an assessment of the administrative and judicial system introduced by the
British in India.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
You have seen in the earlier Units how the British gradually controlled the entire
country through a series of conquests. The East India Company was transformed
from a mere commercial body into a political force. Mere conquests could not
possibly hold the empire together for a long time. It had to be sustained by
evolving a comprehensive system of administration. This unit is therefore,
concerned exclusively with ideas and institutions. We discuss the British ideas on
how to govern India, and than go on to describe the kind of administrative
institutions which were evolved in order to govern and control India.
 6.2 THE BACKGROUND
The vast territories of India were controlled by a massive administrative
structure, and various branches of which were held together by a set of laws.
Before we go into the details of this structure, let us look at the background to
these administrative innovations. These changes in the field of administration and
law were a product of certain ideas which had gained currency in 19th century
Britain. There administrative change also catered to certain British interests in
India. Let us look at both these aspects.
6.2.1 British Thinking on Administration
The administrative and legal system introduced by the British did not take shape
overnight and did not evolve in a vacuum. It was spread well over eighty years,
was implanted through a series of measures and acts, and was based on the
initiative taken by by British administrators and thinkers. A number of its
provisions and schemes continue even today. It did not evolve in a vacuum but
should be seen against the background of intellectual movements in the late 18th
and early 19th century Britain, which looked upon the British administration of
India as on one of its major concerns.
One of the earliest influences that can be seen is the idea of improvement. This
influence, evident at the earliest in Cornwallis, looked at the creation of English
style aristocracy in land as the best means of developing India. This aristocracy,
identified by Cornwallis as the Zamindars was looked upon as trustees who
would encourage the growth of trade and production under them. This coupled
with English style institution of law and administration- where the object was to
separate revenue and judicial function of administration would effectively ensure
the improvement of India under the landed aristocracy.
Whereas Cornwallis worked mainly with the ideas and perceptions which came
before utilitarianism, Macaulay was a liberal who had grown up in interaction
with both the missionary zeal of evangelicalism and the emerging pragmatism of
1830s and 1840s. Thus we see him take up the codification of laws with vigour.
However, though he approved of this aspect of institutionalism, he did not at all
agree with their goal of reforming India.
Between the concern of Cornwallis and Macaulay came the intellectual current
called ‘utilitarianism’ with James Mill, Jeremy Bentham, David Ricardo, John
Stuart Mill as were its major exponents showed a special interest in the Indian
question, and were largely responsible for the kind of administration and judicial
system that came into being in India. The utilitarians reflected on how to govern
and control India and their ideas gradually gained acceptance in British perhaps
became they represented and combined the interest of the British merchants,
manufacturers and missionaries. What were their ideas on India and prescription
for the Indian problem?
 Indian society was seen by them as completely devoid of the values of
rationalism and individualism, which were seen as the essential principles
82 for building a modern society.
  A traditional and decadent society like India could be improved through
proper legislation, which would impart “human justice” as against “divine
justice” practised in traditional societies. This meant that “British
administration with its principles of justice and uniformity could convert
India into progressive and dynamic society.
 However in this scheme the instrumentality of education was rejected by
Mill. And so was the Indianisation of the Government structure. Given
their character, Indians were seen unfit in the task of their over
‘modernisation’. Mill therefore dismissed the idea of giving any power
and responsibility to Indians. Utilitarians prescribed a modern machine of
government, run by the British.
In other words, from the 19th century onwards when information about India
began trickling into the European societies, there began a debate among thinkers,
scholars and administrators on the Indain problem and its solution. Among them
the utilitarians, with their well defined structure of ideas, a set its of followers,
their keenness on India, and the readymade applicability of their concerns (of
taxation, forms of government and administration of justice) to India, proved to
be the most outspoken and effective. In 1819, James Mill was admitted into the
executive government of the East India Company. This made it easier for the
utilitarian ideas to be implemented in the Indian situation. Their ideas can be
summed up in the format of problems and prescribed solutions.
Problems
 Indian society was backward, decadent, retrograde and despotic. There
was degradation of the many by the few and absence of any security for
the individual and his rights.
 This resulted in poverty, therefore crime
 Servility and superstition was (characteristic of Indian people)

Solution
 Advancement of society through the establishment of a good government
with good laws and sound administration.
 This would lead to freeing of individual initiative from despotism,
customs and communal ownership (which Mill saw a sign of a primitive
society and inhibiting the making of a civil society).
 This would give a free and full scope for capital and labour and place due
emphasis on individual rights and ownership (as against communal
ownership, characteristic of Indian society).
 Towards the same and it was necessary to legally define and protect
individual right in land.
To put it briefly, the utilitarian thinking was an advocacy of a ‘Rule of Law’.
Laws were to be scientifically defined and embodies in a written form in codes.
They were to be implemented through the creation of a body of local courts to

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 make law accessible to every man. Only this could create and individualist
competitive society.
6.2.2 British Interests
By now you must have become familiar with British ideas on law and its
relationship with the society. But at the same time, it would be wrong to overlook
the interests, which were also at work behind the introduction of British
administration and law in India. It suited the British requirements in India to have
a uniform system of administration. And the British need for a new
administration and laws varied with the changes in the British interest in India
and the combination of interest groups in Britain.
As you are aware, the imperial interest in India did not remain the same
throughout. They changed during the different stages of the British rule. They
also represented the interests of different social groups in Britain in different
stages. During the first stage of the British rule in India till 1813, British interests
lay mainly in
 the East India Company’s monopoly of trade with India, and the
elimination of other European competitors,
 the control over financial resources, through taxation.
Both these objectives could be fulfilled without having to disturb the existing
institutions and administrative apparatus. British rulers at this stage were not very
different from that of traditional rulers, interested mainly in the appropriation of
agricultural surplus. No attempt was, therefore, made to create a uniform
administrative structure or even to renovate the old one at this stage. No basic
changes were introduced in the judicial system and administration. Whatever
little changes were made in the field of administration were only made at the top
of the structure of revenue collection and were linked to the objective of smooth
revenue collection. A modern judicial system or a uniform administrative
structure for India was not seen as necessary at this stage, since it was not
considered relevant for the fulfillment of British objectives during the first stage
of the British rule in India.
This scenario changed considerably after 1813. As you are aware, the British
economy and society were going through a major transformation, caused mainly
by the Industrial Revolution. The mercantilist trading corporations were now
giving way to the industrial bourgeoisie which had become the dominant force in
the British society. The East India Company was gradually losing its monopoly
over Indian trade. The British interests in India no longer represented the interests
of the company but of the Industrial capitalist class. The interests of the British
industrialists by in using India as
 a market for their manufactured industrial good,
 a source of raw material (like Jute, Cotton etc.) for their industries, and
foodgrains, opium etc. for export.
All the required much greater penetration into Indian economy and society and
control over Indian trade not only with Britain but with other countries also. India
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was now expiated to play a new role. It was perhaps not possible to perform the
new role with the traditions administrative institutions. They had to be changed
and transformed to suit the new requirement s. And hence started the process of
transforming Indian administration the details of which you will study in the next
section. Similarly, the entire legal structure had to be overhauled to promote
modern business, create a market economy, free commercial relations and to
regulate the various economic transactions smoothly with the help of modern
laws. And hence started the process of the transformation of Indian
administration and judiciary, the details of which you will need in the following
section.

Check Your Progress 1

1) What according to utilitarians, were the problems of the Indian society,
and what was the way out? Write in ten lines.
……………………………………………………………………………
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2) Why did the British go in for administrative reforms in the 19the century?
Write in ten lines.
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6.3 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

Having discussed the dominant British ideas on the question of law and
administration, let us now look at the framework of administrative institutions
that evolved in the 19th century, and the extent to which the ideas discussed
above, were incorporated into this framework.
6.3.1 The Judicial System
The building up of an adequate structure of administration stared taking shape
from 1793 under Cornwallis, and continued, with interruptions, down the 19th
century. During Cornwallis Governor Generalship important changes were made
in all the branches of administration including the judicial system. These changes
involved a divorce of revenue from civil administration, i.e., the separation of
judicial from executive functions and the multiplication of judicial courts.
The separation of civil and revenue administration meant, that the collector
hitherto the holder of judicial and revenue responsibilities was now deprived of
his judicial functions and concerned mainly which revenue. The collection of
revenue and the administration of justice were now to be carried out by separate
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 officials appointed for the purpose. There was now a collector responsible for the
collection of revenue and Judge Magistrate with civil and criminal jurisdiction,
broadly the structure of the new judiciary was something like this
Civil Courts
Sadar Diwani Adalat
Provincial Court I-IV
District Courts Presided over by a District Magistrate from Civil Services
Registrar’s Courts
Subordinate Courts (Presided over by Indian Juges called Munsif and Amins)
Criminal Courts
Sadar Nizamat Adalat (Sardar Fauzdari Adalat in Madras, Bombay)
Court of Circuit (Presided over by Civil servants)
Local Courts (Presided over by Indian Magistrates, called principal Sadar Amin
in Madras)
This system of a hierarchy of courts was tried and implemented first in Bengal
which had assumed the states of a Laboratory for the British rule where they
could make experiments in the field of administration, and they extend it to the
rest of the country. Before we proceed further, let us try and understand the chart
above. The Sadar Diwani Adalat and Sadar Nizamat Adalat formed the top of the
pyramid and were situated in Calcutta. Below there were the provincial courts of
appeal (in the case of civil courts) and the courts of circuit (in the case of
criminal courts) which were established in the towns of Calcutta, Dacca,
Murshidabad and Patna. Below there were the registrar’s courts and all those
were presided over only by the Europeans. The participation of Indians was
confined to subordinate positions such as Munsifs, Amins; the Qazis and the
Pandits who merely advised the judges on the existing Mohammedan and Hindu
laws.
Thus was laid the foundation of a new judicial structure in India. In the coming
years, this structure grew and evolved. Many changes are made in it and it was
subsequently applied to other parts of India. Let us at this stage look at some of
the important characteristics of the judicial structure developed in India in the
19th century.
One important feature of the system of law that was erected was that enough
tolerance was displayed toward the existing traditional and religious laws. The
criminal courts did not altogether abolish the Muslim criminal law but applied it
in a somewhat modified form, so as to make it less harsh. Similarly the civil
courts also did not do away with the customary laws which had been followed by
the local people. Evidently at this stage the East India Company was not bent
upon an overhauling of the system. Only a partial modification was attempted.
The existing institutions of justice and also revenue appropriation were not
86 dismantled.
Another feature of the new judicial system was the establishment of a whole
network of laws through the process of enactment of laws and codification of old
laws. This was well in keeping with the 19th century British passion for the
condification of laws. The traditional system had been based on 1) customary
laws based on traditions and social practices, 2) religious laws based on Shastras
and Shariat, and 3) laws flowing from the will and authority of the rulers. As
against this, the British created a new system of laws. They introduced
regulations, codified the existing laws and systematised and the laws were now
open to judicial interpretations and subsequent amendment. Through the Charter
Act of 1833, all law marking authority was vested in the Governor General-in-
Council. In the same year, a law Commission was appointed. Headed by Lord
Macaulay, it prepared the Indian Penal Code which was applicable throughout
the country. Thus there came into being, for the first time, a set of laws which
included into its fold every Indian.
The two main theoretical principles underlying the entire judicial system were the
notions of the Rule of Law and Equality before law.
The Rule of law for India was an integral part of utilitarian thinking on law. They
posited the Rule of Law as the possible solution to the three main problems:
1) Tremendous discretionary power in the hands of individuals who were
likely to misuse it;
2) lack of definition of individual rights, and
3) the existence of a large body of unwritten laws without any clear
direction.
The Rule of law meant that the administration was now to be carried out strictly
according to certain laws which defined the rights, privileges and obligations of
the people, and not according to the personal desires of the rulers. It also meant
that in theory at least, nobody was above law, even the officials. And those who
supervised law, were in theory, accountable to the same once formulated, could
place restrictions on the actions of the rulers. However, the laws formulated and
interpreted were such that they contained enough space for the oppression of the
people. As it happened, various bureaucratic misdeeds, did not require a violation
of law, they could be done well within the legal rights of the officials. Despite the
theoretical principle of “rule”, there remained domains of action, e.g. by the
police or army, which remained unaffected by restrictions which should have
followed from the principles. A great deal of extra –legal continued to be
exercised by the police and civil-servants. In fact, under the Rule of Law, legality
itself became an instrument of power and oppression.
Equality before law meant that in theory all the citizens irrespective of their
caste, status etc. were now placed at an equal footing in the eyes of the law. The
concept of equality before law did not of course, include Europeans into its fold.
Separate courts and laws were set up for them. In criminal cases they could be
tried only by the European Judges. In reality total equality before law could not
possible by implemented. But it did bring about a national equality among
Indians.
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 In practice, the Indian people had to pay a heavy price for the undeniably
laudable principles of the Rule of Law and Equality before Law. Justice became
very expensive and therefore out of reach for most people. Now the stamp fee
had to be paid which was very costly. It cost Rs. 1,000 to start action in a court
on a property worth Rs. 50,000. Moreover, the new laws were quite complicated
and most people could not understand or interpret them. Lawyers, therefore, had
to be employed and that added to the expenses. To seek justice people now had to
come to the district towns or the provincial centres. Also the legal process
generally became very lengthy and sometime law suits dragged on for years. To
take one example a zamindari in Madras went into litigation in 1832 to settle
some inheritance and debt suits. The Judgment was finally delivered only as late
as in 1896 i.e. after 64 years.
However, the judicial system introduced in India did have the merit of saving in
motion the process of the unification of India. Now it was possible to conceive of
India, in judicial terms at least, as one unit. The British formulated and used the
idea of legality as an instrument of legality was to be used by the leaders of the
national movement to defend civil liberty and right to challenge government
authority within the limits of law.
6.3.2 Administrative System
The man aim of the British administration in Indian was the maintenance of law
and order and the perpetuation of the British rule. A fairly adequate body of
written laws had already been created to facilitate the tasks of administration. The
three main pillars of the British administration in India were:
 the Civil service
 the Army, and
 the Police.
Let us briefly se the composition and functions of each of them.
The main job of the civil service was to translate law into action and the
collection of revenue. The term ‘civil services’ was used, for the first time by
East India Company mainly to demarcate its civilian employees from the military
and ecclesiastical counterparts. The service was initially only commercial in
nature but was late transformed into a public service.
From the very beginning it was a grade post-the gradations being-Apprentices,
writers, factors, junior merchants then finally senior merchants. It was from
senior merchants that appointments for higher services including the Governor
were made. This system of grading continued till 1839.
The appointed to these services was the sole prerogative of the court of Directors
of the East India Company. These nominated civil servants indulged in
corruption, bribery and illegal private trade. Cornwallis tried to check this
corruption, arising out of apolicy of patronage practised by the court of Directors.
He imposed certain restrictions on the civil servants (like forbidding private
trade) but increased their salaries as compensation. For instance, the collector of
88 a district was to be paid 1500 a month, besides one per cent commission on the
revenue collected from his district. At this stage, the company’s service was
perhaps the highest paid service and the world.
All this, however, failed to solve the twin problems of corruption and
inefficiency. Lord Wellesly, who arrived in 1798, took significant steps in this
direction. He introduced the idea of a suitable training for the civil servants in
India. He felt that the foundation of the training of the civil servants should be
laid in England and further training imparted in India. This was founded the Fort
William College in Calcutta on 24 November 1800, where the civil Services were
to receive training in literature, science and languages in India. After five years,
an East India College was established at Hailybury for imparting two years,
training to young officers for the civil services. Indian Civil Services for the next
fifty years or so remained the product of the Hailybury College.
The method of recruitment, however, remained through the system of patronage
in the hands of the court of Directors who were free to nominate their sons and
nephews for the services.
The idea of ‘competition’ for recruitment (as against nomination practised
earlier) was introduced for the first time by the Charter Act of 1833. But it was to
be a very limited competition and could be termed as nomination-cum-
competition for recruitment. The Court of Directors was to first nominate four
times the number of civil servants required. These nominated candidates had to
go through a competitive examination, through which one fourth could ultimately
be selected to join the coveted Civil Services.
But gradually the demand for open Public competition started gaining ground.
The Charter Act of 1853 ultimately took away the power of the court of Directors
to make nominations and made a provision for open completion. For regulations
regarding age, qualification and subjects for the competitive examination a
committee was appointed headed by Macauly which was to submit its
recommendation to the Board of control. Subsequently the college at Hailybury
was abolished in 1858 and the competitive examinations became the sole
responsibility of the Civil Service Commission. This competitive examination
was to be held annually in England and it was therefore, virtually impossible for
an Indian to compete in it. In late 19th century there began a demand that the
competition examination should be held in Indian.
The officers of the civil service were employed both in the control officer and the
district. The chief Officer in the district was the collector who was initially
responsible exclusively for the collection of revenue. He had the authority to
decide all disputes related to the boundary and the rent. He was assisted by a
Tehsildar who was an Indian. After the reforms of 1831 the offices of the
Magistrate (you have head about him in sub-section 24.3.1) and the local chief of
Police were also transferred to him. This gave him total authority in the district.
Given the large size of some of the districts, a post of Deputy Collector placed
between the Collector and the Tehsildar in the hierarchy was also aerated after
1831. This was soon converted into an uncovenanted post which meant that
experienced Indians could be employed as Deputy Collectors. 89
 The Indian Civil Services in years to come, developed into one of the most
efficient and powerful civil services in the world. Its members played a very
crucial role in the framing of the British Polices in India and also in maintaining
and running the mighty British empire in India. After 1947, independent India
inherited this system of Civil Services, which continue in its essentially original
form even today.
The Army and the Police
Something needs to be said about the other two pillars of British administration.
The bulk of the Company’s army consisted of Indian soldiers. In 1857 the
Indians constituted about 86% of the total strength of the Company’s army. The
main reason for this large share of Indians lay in the expense involved in
maintaining an exclusively British army. Also, given the Company’s
expansionary policy, company was required to maintain a large army. How
company to rely on an army largely India. However, the officers of the army, as
in other branches of administration, were exclusively British. The highest an
Indian could reach was the post of a Subedar.
The army played a crucial role in the expansion of British dominions over the
Indian rulers. However, after the conquest over India was over and the rivalry
with foreign powers eliminated; keeping India under subjection became the main
task of the army. A secondary task was to fight England’s wars wit the Russian,
or the French or with Indian neighbouring countries.
Police, the third Pillar of the British administration was created by Cornwallis. So
far, the function of the Police was performed-by Zamindar through their armed
retainers. They were now striped off their power, their armed retainers were
disbanded and in ties place, a police force was set up. This force was entirely at
the command of the government of the East India Company. This force was
grouped into Thanas, headed by a Daroga who was an Indian. These thanas were
initially under the general supervision of the District Judge. Later the post of
District superintendent of Police was created to head the police organisation in
the district. Finally the organisation of the police force was handed over to the
civil service and the collector in the district also controlled the police. The main
task of the police was to handle crime and also to prevent conspiracy against the
British rule. Later, in the 20th century the police was employed in a big way to
suppress the growing national movement.
6.3.3 Extent of Indian Participation
One noticeable feature of the judicial and administrative reforms introduced by
the British was the absence of Indians from responsible offices. This was well in
harmony with the utilitarian thinking on the Indian question represented mainly
by Mill. Moreover Cornwallis, the initiator of these reforms in India did not seem
to have much faith in the efficiency and sincerity of the Indians. The field for
their employment was therefore, narrowed to subordinate positions such as the
Amin and Police Daroga. This policy of excluding Indians was applied to almost
every branch of the government like army, Police, Civil Services, judiciary and
90
engineering. In fact in had officially been laid down in 1793 that all higher posts
in administration worth a salary of 500 a year or more could be held only by an
Englishman. This was so mainly because the British were convinced that an
administration based on British ideas, institutions and practices could be firmly
established only by Englishmen. The dominant British thinking of that time
seemed to be in favour of providing good administration for the Indians, not one
run by them.
However, after 1813 under Hastings, there started the process of the gradual
Indianisation of the lower branches of services, mainly the judiciary. As the
judicial system was made more extensive, more Indians were included in it. The
argument given was that if justice had to be made locally available then local
people should be involved in it. Bentinck advocated the inclusion of Indians on
the grounds of orienting administration to the local needs, which could only be
defined by the Indians themselves.
A major reason for Indianisation was the expense involved. The wars fought
under Hastings, especially the Anglo Burmese war produced a financial crisis.
This crisis was compounded with the need to make administration more
extensive. The extension of the convenanted services (services held by the
Englishmen) was virtually impossible. So, on the one hand there was the need to
make the administration more extensive. And on the other hand, was their
inability to bear the cost of the extensive administration, by British standards.
This did not threaten the British aspirants for the lucrative Indians posts, as they
did not want to compete for the subordinate jobs in India.
It was mainly for this reason that the claims of the Indian people for a share in
administration were being publically recognised, and the British Government was
also providing the justification in terms of justice, moral obligation, and local
needs etc. a regulation of 1831 placed in the hand of the Indian Judicial officers a
large share of the judicial responsibility. Bentinck was succeeded by Auckland
who increased the power and salary of the Indian Judges.
But it must be remembered that the top posts, involving decision-making
authority were reserved strictly for the British till the late 19th and early 20th
centuries when the Indians started making an entry into the coveted civil services.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Write five lines on each of the following
i) Rule of Law.
ii) Equality before Law.
iii) Police
iv) Army
2) Read the following statements and mark right(√) or wrong (×):
i) Under the new judicial system, the civil and revenue
administration were separated from each other.
ii) The existing traditional and religious laws were abolished from
the very beginning under the new system.
iii) The Indian Penal Code was applicable only in Bengal. 91
 iv) Indian participation in the British Services was confined to lower
ranks only.

6.4 LET US SUM UP

In the 19th century India started a process in which new legal and administrative
institutions came into being, grew and took a definite shape. This process was a
product of certain British ideas on the Indian problems from the early 19th
century onwards, as well as certain changes in British interests pressing for
administrative reforms. The result was network of laws applicable throughout the
country and a vast administrative structure to implement the laws. This structure
was truly modern in nature and pan-Indian in its spread. Its impact, clearly visible
only in the 20th century was somewhat ambivalent in nature. To the British
Government it provided the channels for control over the Indian people, and for
greater penetration into India. To the Indians on the other hand, it provided the
ground on which a protest could be launched and the authority of the British
could be challenged.

6.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) See Sub-sec. 6.2.1
2) In your answer you should refer to the changes in the British interest
thereby necessitating a comprehensive administrative structure in the 19th
century. See Sub-sec. 6.2.2.
Check Your Progress 2
1) i) and ii) See-sec. 6.3.1 iii) and iv) See Sub-sec. 6.3.2
2) i) √ ii)× iii)× iv)√

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