British Settlement Bombay

Administration of justice -
Bombay
Administration of justice in Bombay
settlement.
• The Portuguese were the first to acquire Bombay having a

population of merely 10,000. Finding uneconomic to
govern this territory from England, Charles II transferred it
to the East India Company in 1668 for an insignificant
annual rent of ₤ 10.
FIRST PERIOD 1668-1683
Charter of 1668:
•The Charter empowered the Company to make laws for
government of the Island, and to penalties and punishments by
way of fines, imprisonment, or even death.
•The laws and punishments had to be in consonant to reason ,
and were not to be repugnant or contrary, but as near as might be
agreeable, to the laws of England.
•The Company had freedom to create courts and judge all person
and actions.
“Their proceedings were to be conducted on the lines of the
courts established in England.”
• JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Gerald Aungier, the governor of the Surat factory has been

described as the ‘true founder” of Bombay. Due to his efforts,
the first judicial system was established in 1670. Bombay was
divided into 2 parts:
• A court consisting of five judges was started in each division.
The customs officer of each division, an Englishman, was to be
the President of the respective court. Three judges were to form
a quorum. Some judges were Indians who were appointed for
two main reasons: So that Englishmen could be spared from
other duties than administration of justice and also to show the
goodness of English Government to the Natives.
• The court was authorized to decide cases of small thefts. The
court was required to keep a register of all its proceeding and
was to deliver authentic copies to the Deputy Governor and
Council, which constituted a superior court. It heard appeals
from the divisional courts and tried all civil and criminal cases
lying beyond their scope.
DEFECTS:
Administration of justice was committed to traders
who had no knowledge of law and who received no
salary for judicial work done by them.
No seperation b/w executive & judiciary
Aungier was aware of these defects and requested the

Company to send a lawyer so that a better judicial
system might be started in the Island.
• Therefore, the Company advised Aungier to select
someone having some knowledge of law from amongst
the Company’ s servants already in India. Aungier’
chose George Wilcox and a new judicial system was
inaugurated in Bombay in 1672 with him as the pivot.
Judicial System of 1672
• The new judicial system consisted of a court with George
Wilcox as the judge. The court was to have jurisdiction in
all cases, civil, criminal, probate and testamentary.
• It was to sit once in a week to try civil cases with help of
jury. Provisions were made for speedy trials and quick
decisions by the court.
Fee of five per cent was charged on every case determined
by the court
• For administration of criminal justice, Bombay was
divided into four sections Bombay, Mahim, Mazegaon and
Sion. A justice of the peace, an Englishman, was appointed
in each section. First , the justice of the peace held a
preliminary examination of the witness against an
accused . He acted not as a punitive court but only as a
committing magistrate. The record of this examination was
sent to the court which sat once a month to try criminal
cases with the help of jury. All justices of the peace sat in
the court as assessors to help the judges deciding criminal
cases.
• Appeals from the Court lay to the Deputy
Governor and Council of Bombay.
• In addition to the above, a court of conscience,
again with Wilcox as the judge, was also started to
decide petty cases to 20 xeraphins summarily and
without a jury.
• The court sat once a week, charged no fees, and
thus provided a forum to dispense justice to poor
litigants expeditiously and without any cost .
• In the area of civil justice, the court followed a simple and
less technical version of the English procedure. It
administered justice expeditiously, a case taking ten to
twelve days to be decided.
• Justice was inexpensive, the total charge on an action
being not more than 20 shillings
• Debtors were kept in prison till they satisfied their debts. In
one case on record, even the body of the Company’s debtor
was attached; it was released by the government when his
relations gave security to satisfy the debt
• The Jury would usually consist of 12 Englishmen: but in
cases amongst Portuguese and Englishmen, jury would be
half English and half Portuguese
• In the area of criminal justice , the accused persons were
proceeded against by indictments prepared from records
submitted to the court by justices of peace after preliminary
examination. Felonies like murder, rape, and witchcraft
were punished with death according to the English law.
Second Period 1684-1690
• The second phase in the development of the judiciary

at Bombay opened with the setting up of an
Admiralty court in 1684 under the Charter of 1683.
The Company sent from England Dr. John St. John ,
a person ‘learned in the civil law’, to preside in the
court as the Judge-Advocate on an annual salary of
200 .
• Admiralty court in 1684- The Admiralty Court, to
start with, took cognizance of all cases civil and
criminal, in addition to the admiralty and maritime
matters falling properly within the ambit of the
Charter of 1683.
• WORKING OF THE COURT –
The court sat once a week and decided civil,

criminal, military cases. Its proceedings were not
bound by any technical rules, law or precedent.
There were no lawyers to argue the case, no codes,
no reports and no law books. Most of the cases
coming before it were of a simple nature and cases
concerning partition of estates involving intricate
accounts were usually referred to arbitration. The
award of the arbitrator could be effective only after
confirmation by the court. Debtors were imprisoned
until debts were repaid. To Hindus and Muslims ,
their customs were applied.
• The major work of the court lay in the area of
criminal justice in some cases, it awarded
imprisonment for an indefinite period of
incarceration. Whipping was the most common
punishment, thirty-nine lashes being the common
standard. It fell equally on the males and females,
and was inflicted in public so that others might
learn a lesson. Sometimes , the accused was
branded also.
• Treason, theft, rape , murder , manslaughter
were capital offences. Robbers were first
whipped, then branded with red hot iron, and
then imprisoned with hard labour. Habitual and
hardened criminals or those guilty of heinous
crimes were usually banished from the Island.
THE END.

British Settlement Bombay

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British Settlement Bombay

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Administration of justice -

• The Portuguese were the first to acquire Bombay having a

Gerald Aungier, the governor of the Surat factory has been

Aungier was aware of these defects and requested the

• The second phase in the development of the judiciary

The court sat once a week and decided civil,

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