Module 1 : Early Administration of Justice in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta :

1. European Settlement in India

2. The East India Company : Development of authority
3. Organisational setup of the English Company’s Factories or settlements in India
4. Madras Settlement and Administration of Justice
5. Administration of Justice in Bombay
6. Administration of Justice in Calcutta

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1.Write a detail note on administration of justice in madras up to 1726.

2.Establishment of East india company.
3.Write a detail note on administration of justice in bombay during the period of
1668 to 1726.
4.Establishment of east india company.
5.Write a detail note on administration of justice in Madras.
6.Discuss the main features of the charter of 1600. Also discuss the constitution of
east india company and powers given to it by the said charter.
1. European Settlement in India
2. The East India Company : Development of authority
3. Organisational setup of the English Company’s Factories or settlements in India

INTRODUCTION
The emergence of the British Empire in India stands out as an event of unique interest
in the history of the World. Unlike many other empires, the magnificent edifice of the
British Kingdom in India was the creation of merely a company, a corporation which
was originally conceived purely for furthering the British commercial interests in the
overseas countries.

CHARTER OF 1600 A.D

1.This Company was commonly known as the East India Company. It was incorporated
in England on the last day of December, 1600, by a Charter of Queen Elizabeth. The full
official title of the Company was “The Governor and Company of merchants of England
trading into the East Indies.”
2.This Charter settled the constitution, powers and privileges which were to be
enjoyed by the Company.
3.The Company was to have a life of fifteen years in the first instance. But the Charter
could be revoked earlier by the Crown on two years’ notice if the trade carried on by
the Company did not appear to be profitable to the realm.
4.During this period of fifteen years, the Company was to carry on trade into and from
the countries lying beyond the Cape of Goodhope eastward to the streights of
Magellan. These geographical limits incorporated many important countries like India,
America and Africa etc. The right of the Company to carry on trade within this area was
to be exclusive. No other British subject could carry on trade within this sphere.
Unauthorised traders were to be liable to forfeiture of their goods, ships and tackle
and to imprisonment or such other punishment as might appear to be ‘ meet and
convenient’ .
5.General court

The affairs of the Company were to be controlled and conducted on democratic

principles.
All the members of the company were to form, what was known as, a General Court
This General Court was to elect every year a Governor and twenty-four Committees or
Directors.
These persons were to form the Court of Directors and were to manage the business of
the Company.
The tenure of Office of all these persons was ordinarily to be one year. But any one of
them could be removed earlier by the General Court if it was found that he did not
“demean himself well in his said office." Any vacancy caused by such removal, was to
be filled by the General Court for the remaining part of the year.

POWER TO MAKE LAWS

The Charter conferred on the Company certain limited powers of legislation also.

1.The Company was authorised, in its Genera Court, to make, ordain and
constitute laws, orders and constitutions etc.
I)These laws were to be reasonable and were not to be contrary or repugnant
to the laws, statutes or customs of the realm of England.
II)The Company could make laws for the good government of itself, for all its
various categories of servants and officers, and also for the better advancement
and continuance of its trade and traffic.

2.For due observance of these laws, the Company could impose pains,
punishments and penalties, by way of imprisonment of body, fines and
amerciaments. It was laid down that these penalties and punishments must he
reasonable and should not be contrary or repugnant to the laws, statutes and
customs of the English Kingdom .
3.The legislative power, thus granted to the Company, was very limited. It was a
power only of minor legislation. The condition that the laws enacted by the
Company should not be contrary to those of England shows, that the idea was
that there should not be any fundamental deviation or departure from the
principles of English Law. It will be noticed that there is no reference to any
factories or territories in this grant of legislative power.

4.This shows that in the beginning the aims of the Company were essentially
commercial. It was never thought that the Company would acquire territories in
any foreign country and become a political power. This explains the absence of
any authority in the Company to legislate for the governance of its territorial
acquisitions.

5.Further, the power to make laws was limited drastically by the nature of
punishments which could be inflicted for their breach and contravention. The
punishments could only be fine and imprisonment. No other punishment could be
prescribed by the Company. No law prescribing capital punishment could be
enacted by the Company.

6.This power to make laws was on the same lines as the power usually conferred
in those days on ordinary municipal and commercial corporations. The idea was
that the Company might be able to make regulations for keeping discipline among
its servants and also make rules and ordinances for the conduct of its own
business. The legislative power was not at all sufficient for enabling the Company
to carry on the government of any territory.
However, in spite of its limited nature, this legislative power is of great historical
importance, for it was out of this provision that the later powers of the Company
developed.
 CHARTER OF 1609

On May 31st, 1609 the Charter of the Company was renewed by James I. The
trade and commerce of the Com¬ pany had been found to be beneficial and
profitable to the English nation and, therefore, to encourage and advance the
Company, King James I issued this fresh Charter. The im¬ portant feature of this
Charter was the absence of any limit: on the continuance of the Company. It was
placed on a perpetual basis subject, however, to the right of the Crown to
determine it on three years’ notice on proof of injury to the public. All the other
privileges, powers and rights which had been granted in 1600 to the Company by
Queen Elizabeth were continued without any modifications

THE ENGLISH FACTORY AT SURAT

Armed with these sundry powers, the Company started on its career of trade and
commerce. Its representatives set their feet on the Indian soil during the reign of
Jahangir. first requisite for properly organising and conducting commercial
activities in India was to find out a suitable place where the Company could locate
its business centre. Surat was selected for this purpose.
Surat at this time was an important commercial centre and a populous town
within the Mughal Dominions. It already enjoyed the status of an international
port because it was from here that the pilgrims to the holy land of Mekka and
Madina started on their voyage every year. The chief merit of Surat from the
English point of view, however, was its port.

It was not without much difficulty that the English could establish themselves at
Surat. The Portuguese were already settled there and they could not be expected
to tolerate com¬ petitors establishing themselves. A contest between the two
took place; the Portuguese naval power was routed, and in this c way, in 1612,
the English were successful in establishing their first factory on the Indian soil. To
start with, the English entered into an agreement with the local Mughal Governor.
But after some time they felt that to lend permanency to their establish¬ ment at
Surat, they must contact the Mughal Emperor and secure facilities directly from
him. With this purpose in view, James I despatched an ambassador, Sir Thomas
Roe. Pie reached the Mughal Court at Agra in 1615 and succeeded in securing
certain facilities for the English. The important ones were :—
1. That the English were to be allowed to live accord¬ ing to their own religion
and laws without interference.
2. Disputes among them were to be regulated by their own tribunals.
3. Disputes between an Englishman on one hand, and any Hindu or Muslim on the
other, were to be settled by the established local native authorities.
4. In all cases of complaints and controversies the Mughal Governor or Kazi of the
place was required to do Justice to the English and protect them from all injuries
or oppressions whatsoever. He was directed to ‘aid and entreat them as from
with courtesy and honour.’ .

RIGHT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR THE ENGLISH

The important thing, therefore, that Roe was successful in securing from the
Mughal Emperor was the right of self government for the English. They were to
be allowed to trade freely. They were allowed to establish a factory at Surat; they
were also to have the privilege of regulating their affairs and relations inter se
according to their own laws, and to this extent, they were to be exempt from the
local jurisdictions.

SURAT ITS ADMINISTRATION

The factory at the time was merely a trading station where the Company had its
warehouses, offices and residential quarters for its officers. The main business of
the Company was that of import and export and for all this they required spacious
godowns and warehouses which were located within the factory area.
For some time to come the English Factory at Surat was the chief centre of the
Company’s activities in India. It was the first presidency, being known as such due
to the fact that its administration was conducted by a Presi¬ dent or Governor
and Council. The President and every member of the Council were appointed by
the Company. According to the practice, all the affairs of the factory were
regulated by a majority vote in the Council. The President did not have any veto
power by which he could over-rule his colleagues in the Council. He merely had
one vote; all the important questions were put before the Council, discussed and
decided according to the majority opinion. This system was very much different
from the one that subsequently deve¬ loped and worked in India under which a
Governor had a veto power by which he could over-rule even the majority
opinion in the Council. In the beginning, the Governor did not enjoy such a wide
power; he was only one among the Council members.

company’s SERVANTS

The servants of the Company were divided into three classes. The junior most
were known as ‘Writers’. They had to serve as such for five years on a small salary
of £10 per year. After that period the servants became ‘Factors’ and their salary
increased to £20 per year. After three years more they came to be known as
‘Senior Factors’. Lastly, 'after the lapse of three more years, they became
‘Merchants’ and received a salary of £40 per year. It was out of this last category
that the important offices like the membership of the Council, Chiefs of
subordinate factories etc. were filled. All the servants of the Company lived
together in the factory, had a common mess and led more or less a collegiate life.
The expenses for their boarding and lodging were met by the Company. One
would be surprised at the awkwardly low salaries that were given to the servants
of the Company. To make up this deficiency, these servants had a right to conduct
their own private trade on land. It was this right that served as an attraction to
the young Englishmen to leave their homes and come over to India at such low
salaries. Service in the Company provided them with opportunities for their own
private trade and they could make enough money on that account.
 LAW AND JUSTICE

The Englishmen at Surat were under a two sided law. It has already been pointed
out that as a result of the efforts of Sir Roe, the Mughal Emperor had granted a
right of selfJ government to the English. It means that for the affairs aris¬ ing
among the Englishmen themselves, they were to be govern¬ ed by the English
Law. Their affairs w7ere to be regulated by their own tribunals and authorities
within the factory. But regarding those causes and transactions, in which one of
the parties happened to be an Indian, the Mughal had directed that they should
be decided by the established native tribunals in the land. The English had settled
in Surat with the leave of the Mughal Government. Ordinarily, therefore, they
would have been subject to the laws of the country. In these circum¬ stances the
right of self government granted to the English was a great relief to them. The
difference between the local laws, whether Hindu or Mohammedan, and the
English Law was inevitably such as to render it natural for the English to desire,
that the disputes between them, inter se, might be decid¬ ed by themselves
according to their own rules and customs. The Hindu and Mohammedan Laws are
religious in origin and character. The English merchants did not cherish the idea of
being governed by any of them. The Mughal, who was hardly interested in
interfering with their internal affairs and bringing them under the Indian laws in
such matters, obliged the English by acceding to their request for self-
government. The English could, without any injury to the State, be allowed to
govern themselves according to their own laws, and so they were permitted to do
so.

DOUBLE SIDED LAW

But no ruler could divest himself of his responsibility for the welfare of his
subjects. No ruler could be expected to tolerate unruly conduct towards his
subjects *or allow injuries to be inflicted on them. It was, therefore, insisted that
cases •# arising among the Englishmen and the Indians must be decided by the
established tribunals of the land. • The English at this time thus lived under a two
sided law. For some cases the English Law, and for others the Indian Law,
operated on them.

PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL AS COURT

In Surat, no regular tribunals were started for deciding causes arising among the
Englishmen themselves. The Presi¬ dent and Council of the factory had authority
to administer justice in criminal cases. This authority was conferred on them
under the commission of the English Crown. On February 4th, 1623, the English
King James I empowered the East India Company to issue commissions to any of
their Presidents and his Council to ‘‘chastise, correct and punish all and every the
subject of us, our heirs and successors employed by the Company.” It was under
this authority that the President and Council of the Surat factory administered
criminal justice and inflicted suitable penalties on the offenders* The death
sentence could also be inflicted under this commission but subject to two
safeguards. Firstly, it could be inflicted only in case of mutiny or other felony.
Secondly, it could be inflicted only after a trial with the help of a Jury of twelve or
more Englishmen.
The President and Council also decided cases of a civil nature and administered
justice in this sphere too. Thus the executive wielded the whole of the judicial
power at this early stage. In all these cases, English Law was supposed to be
administered. But the President and the members of the Council, on whom lay
the responsibility of administering law and justice, were not lawyers. They were
merely traders, and so they were not expected to have any knowledge of the
technical rules of the English Law. The result, therefore, was that they decided
cases not according to the principles of English Law but merely according to their
own sense of justice and fairplay.
 CASES BETWEEN AN ENGLISHMAN AND AN INDIAN

The native tribunals established at Surat constituted the proper forum to take
cognisance of the cases between an Englishman and Indian. But the Mughal
judicial tribunals at this time were not such as to inspire a sense of respect for law
and justice. The administration of justice at the time suffered from many evils and
vices. Corruption and bribery were very common. The state of judicial
administration was very unsatisfactory. The result, therefore, was that the
English¬ men often took law into their own hands. Instead of their taking recourse
to the Native tribunals, they would try to extract justice from the Indians by
themselves whenever they could do so without any apprehension of Mughal
reprisals

SURAT CEASES TO BE A PRESIDENCY

The factory of Surat was not destined to enjoy for long the pre-eminent position
of being the Company’s principal trading station in India. The Company found the
island of Bombay to be more convenient for its purposes. In May, 1687, the seat
of the President and Council was transferred 7 • from Surat to Bombay. Surat
then began to lose all its importance and Bombay became the principal centre of
the Company’s activities in the western part of India