Before colonialism, the judicial system of India was good at that time but the present judicial system is given by authorities and the legislation of colonial times is based on the religious system like Hindu & Muslim law but most of the law is being followed in this period is English law. The courts were established by the British, and they drafted the law also. As the British East India Company established its own courts and the courts were headed by the Sadar Adalat there was a proper authority which was under of governor general council and they were not selected by the company they were selected by the English crown and whoever did the crime whether the crimes or offence done by the officials of the government the court can prosecute them and it was to be made sure that the government exercised its powers according to the laws of England in the boundary of that English law it does not go beyond that they had to stick to the English laws.

The natives brought the matters whether criminal or civil in nature the company will entertain those matters or suits which were brought by the offences against the member of the council of provincial and the authorities, representatives, or people of the east India company, they will hear the matters and will try to serve the justice in a fair manner. Then, law commission was constituted at that time and it was believed that the codification of law has been started after the first law commission and the penal code was drafted in 1837 it was a great attainment, and in 1858 the royal proclamation was announced and after that, the British crown took over the colonial system of India and from here the rule of Britishers started.

The act was passed in 1858 when the Indian government started taking over the administration or territories from the east India company. The law was codified so the sources were fixed and authentic and the custom became the primary source of criminal procedural law became fixed. In 1861, the high courts started establishing under the Indian high court act and abolished the supreme court which were established earlier. All the appeals were heard by the court which was established by India. The privy council was the strongest and highest appellate body, but when India became independent, the privy of council was abolished. Government of India also abolished the Diarchy system and established the foundations if a federal form of government and the federal court which was provided it was under the act of 1935 and it have the judication over the interoperation of laws and the constitution and not only this but it also has the jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases which was given by the high court and the appointment of king and justice was provided under the act and they can be appointed by the secretary of state this is the concept of justice.

Now there was the justice according to the dharma the legal system which was based on Hindu & Muslim law, the justice system which was based on Dharma sastra and Sharia law and there some local customs butat the last these system imposed the system which was based on the laws of English and it is useful for the forerunner of the present judicial system and the legal system through which the role and current function of the Indian legal system can be appreciated and there some aspects of advent of colonial law and there were some different aspects of Hindu & Muslim justice and legal system in India. It was good before the colonial system. The study of ancient judicial system was relevant through which the modern justice system can easily be understood. Hindu law was the part of the pre-British era and they had variety of customs and the practices and Hindu law was different and distinguish from the Muslim law.

The starting of the Britishers or the advent of britishers in the 19 th century distinguished between the Hindu & Muslim law the Pre British was a combination custom, traditional and religion and that was not varied from region to region and one of the main focuses of that time was to bring the law into codification or a text so that it can be more authentic. Hindu Law can be divided into 3 kinds first the classical Hindu law, second Hindu law during the British , third and the last modern Hindu law these correspond the three periods of pre British and modern law of the concepts in classic Hindu law which can said like dharma was not confined not only to religious duties but it was much more broader than that it also tells about the legal duties and ow a human should live about the human activities dharma includes law as well as justice and it was not limited to religious duties and was very well known that the customs and practices varied from place to place region to region and there is no particular definition of dharma was not defined exactly is because it tells about the religion, justice, legal and how one should live their life.

Dharma sastra contains daily routine, rituals, law and legal duties, and witness examination as well as the methods to serve justice in a fair, righteous, and equitable manner. There was text in Dharam sastra which was Manu smriti these texts were used for legal judgements and opinions it was not clear, many authors wrote these texts which was differ in itself from the structure of dharma sastra and these were also written in law commission and also record that whenever and wherever and so far as circumstances permitted attempts were all along been made in Hindu. India to administer justice broadly on the lines indicated in the law books there was an elaborates system of administration justice and provisions were made for description of the highest court at the capital and the city and there were local courts for people at different places and of course there was clear difference between civil and the criminal case and the king was used to take the decisions alone.

The Muslim law was also implemented in India and it was applied all the ,matters basically in civil and criminal cases or criminal or civil matters and it was based on the writing of the Muslim jurists and there were practice of Islamic countries where Muslim rulers did not interfere with civil matters and the Hindu institutions were allowed to continue the cases where disputes was between a Hindu and a Muslim, Muslim will be given priority and criminal cases would decide according to the Muslim law and in civil matters the cases were left over the administration of the religious group.

The Muslim law was based on sharia law and the courts were operated on the basis of Muslim law. There was hierarchy of court existed the activity of the lower courts that was not sufficiently supervised as per the Hindu law and it was applied as per the set of courts these courts set up by the government and did not extend deep into the country side and the administration of these villages was not controlled by the government but it was handled by the village court. Under the charter of 1600 the British era and the company came, the east India company will appoint the governor for both the legislative and judicial power for betterment of the trade & commerce. There were some parliamentary charter, Hindu law, Muslim Law, English common law and customary law. In relation to the matter with family Hindu and Muslim were to be governed by personal laws and in all the cases which did not fall under any act, by the general principle of equity justice and good conscience. So, we have seen both the judicial system at the time Hindu law & Muslim law and at the time of English law and it can be said that they have maintained the law & order in their society.

References-

http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1391/The-Legal-system-in-ancient-India.html

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