are mentioned to shew the injustice of general censure on the expense, extent, or delay of legal proceedings in India. If a comparison be made in the salaries of the Company's judges in India and the judges in England, it will be seen that, notwithstanding the difference of climate between the two countries, and the retiring pensions, the balance is not in favour of the Company's judges. £. The Lord Chancellor in England receives per annum.... 14,000* The Chief Judge of the Sudder Dewany Adawlut The Vice-Chancellor in England† 6,000 6,000 7,000 A Puisne Judge of the Sudder Dewanny Adawlut ...... 5,000 The Master of the Rollst The Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Englandt 7,000 Commissioner of Revenue and Circuit in India Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bencht Chief Judge of the province of Calcutta Puisne Judge of the Court of King's Bencht 4,000 10,000 3,200 5,000 2,800 This comparison is sufficient to shew that the Indian judges are not paid extravagantly; but it would be cheaper in the end to pay them three times their present salaries, rather than the stream of justice should be muddy at its source. The total establishment consists of three high courts of appeal (one at each presidency), termed the "Sudder Dewanny and Nizamut Adawlut," or chief civil and criminal court. Another supreme court of appeal similar to the foregoing has been established, during the present year, for the Western provinces. The functions of these courts are, cognizance of civil, criminal, and police matters; the remission or mitigation of punishment when *This is independent of the noble and learned Lord's situation as speaker of the House of Peers. + Independent of fees or patronage, none of which are attached to the Company's Judges appointments. the sentence of the law officers is deemed unduly severe; a revision previous to the execution of every sentence of death, transportation, or perpetual imprisonment; arbitration where the judges differ from their law officers; revision of the proceedings of any of the courts; power to suspend judges; they may direct suits for property exceeding £5,000 in value to be originally tried before them ;* they may admit second or special appeals from the inferior courts, and their construction of the Government regulations is final. For Bengal there are six provincial courts of appeal,† with a chief and puisne judge to each; they have no criminal jurisdiction; try suits exceeding 5,000 rupees in value if the plaintiff desire their decision (which he may prefer before the zillah judge if the value do not exceed 10,000 rupees); appeals lie from the zillah courts, and are final, unless in cases of special appeal. For the Bengal presidency there are twenty commissioners of revenue and circuit. The direction and control of the magistrates and police, and of all the revenue officers, is vested in them; they hold sessions of gaol delivery at least twice in each year at the different zillah and city magistrate stations. Lord William Bentinck has been censured for giving these commissioners jurisdiction over revenue as well as judicial matters; the object of his lordship was, I presume, for the expediting of justice, and deciding on the numerous revenue cases which occupy the greatest time of the zillah courts; experience will be the best test of the efficacy of the measure. An appeal lies to the King in council, in all cases exceeding £5,000. + Calcutta, Dacca, Moorshedabad, Patna, Benares, and Bareilly. Meerut, Agra, Furruckabad, Moradabad, Bareilly, Humeerpore, Allahabad, Benares, Goruckpoor, Sarun, Patna, Bhagulpore, Bauleah,_ Moorshedabad, Dacca, Chittagong, Assam, Allipore, Cuttack, and Burdwan. The city and zillah courts of Bengal amount to forty-nine; some have a judge, magistrate, and register; in others the duties of judge and magistrate are conjoined, and the duties of register and magistrate. These courts have charge of the police, cognizance of affrays, thefts, burglaries, &c., when not of an aggravated character, and power to the extent of two years' imprisonment; commit persons charged with more heinous offences for trial before the commissioner of circuit; visit the gaols at least once a week; try original suits to the value of ten thousand rupees, decide appeals from registers, sudder aumeens (superior native judges), and moonsiffs; and, by a regulation of the present year for the expediting of criminal justice, three zillah judges may be invested with power by the Governor-General to hold sessions and gaol delivery. Registers and joint magistrates exercise magisterial functions in defined districts, and are authorized to decide causes exceeding five hundred rupees in value. Another set of zillah and city courts* have been established during the present year with native judges of every class, caste, or religious persuasion found qualified for the posts of sudder aumeens, moonsiffs, vakeels, &c., to whom liberal salaries are granted. In fact, to such an extent is the appointment of native judges and courts now extending, that the original civil proceedings of the country, up to a certain amount, will be placed in their hands, leaving to their countrymen, however, the option, until it can be seen how the system will work, of having their causes decided by a European judge, should * These courts extend throughout Agra, Allahabad, Cawnpore, Futtehpore, Ghazeepore, Goruckpore, Meerut, and Moradabad in the Western provinces; and in the Lower provinces throughout Beerbhoom, Behar, Bhauglepoor, Burdwan, Chittagong, Cuttack, Hooghly, Jessore, Jungle Mehals, Midnapore, Moorshedabad, Mymensing, Nuddea, Patna, Sarun, Shahabad, Sylhet, and Tirhoot. they prefer it. A plan of judicature similar to the foregoing is in force at Madras and Bombay, modified by local usages, in some parts there being punchayets (native juries) of arbitration, and of civil and criminal procedure. * A Bombay judge may also avail himself of the assistance of respectable natives as assessors in civil and criminal matters. The police (in Bengal, for instance) are divided into thannahs (stations), with a darogah (native officer), native register, a jematdar (petty officer), and from twenty to fifty burkundazes (irregular soldiers). In each zillah or district there are from fifteen to twenty darogah stations, making altogether about five hundred in the Lower provinces, and four hundred in the Western. The darogah's duty is to receive criminal charges, to hold inquests, to forward accused persons with their prosecutors and witnesses to the magistrate; to use every exertion for the apprehension of criminals, and to preserve the peace of the station. The darogah regularly reports all proceedings to the European magistrates, from whom he receives orders. The last chain in the link is the village police, every village having its own watchman,† who together with the village corporation officers, agents, zemindars, &c. are required to give immediate information of all * The native judge at Poonah receives about 800 rupees a month, and the native puisne judges in proportion. + The number of villages in lower Bengal is 163,673, giving an assistant police for that portion of the province to the amount of 160,000 men; and in a similar manner in the other parts of India. The police of the large cities of Benares, Patna, Moorshedabad, &c. are well known to be better regulated than that of Calcutta. The author of this work took the liberty of suggesting to Lord William Bentinck the dividing the police of Calcutta into departments, with branch magisterial offices, as in London, a suggestion, along with others, which he believes has been acted on since his departure from India. There is still wanting district coroners, who might be appointed from among the Hindoos and Indo-Britons without any salary, as the rank the office would confer would be a sufficient reward. crimes committed within their limits, and to aid in the apprehension of offenders. There is a mounted horse police, officered by natives; and a river police, conducted by natives also. Such is an outline of the judicial system in India, which Mr. Rickards, in his letter to the Board of Control, within the last few weeks, denounces as "inapplicable to the state of society, civilization, and knowledge existing among the natives, their local usages, traditions, and laws." Let us see if Mr. Rickards be deserving of credence in this particular, more than in any of his assertions examined in the preceding chapters; as it will be admitted that a great diminution of crime is a powerful test of the efficiency of a code of judicature. It is in evidence before Parliament, during the present year, that "the criminal laws of India are mild in the degree of punishment they award; that prisoners are brought to trial without any great delay; that extraordinary care is paid to the health and comfort of the prisoners confined in the Indian gaols; that the punishments formerly applicable to crimes of different denominations, have been very much mitigated; * that abundant care is taken to guard against prisoners being convicted unjustly; that the police officers have been furnished with a manual of instructions (Regulation XX. 1817), which are valuable in themselves, and have operated to prevent, in a considerable degree, abuses which formerly were prevalent among the police officers; and, in fine, that *The criminal laws of India are those which the East-India Company found established in the country for centuries; these laws, though sparing in the number of offences visited with capital punishment, were accompanied by the relics of a barbarous age, in the shape of mutilations, tortures, &c.; the British authorities have retained what was good while abolishing what was evil, and an excellent system of criminal jurisprudence, still open to improvement, has been the fruit of such a politic, and at the same time wise proceeding. |