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Lord William Bentinck became the
Governor-General of India in July,
1828 and held that office up to
march,1835.
He made several reforms in
judicial administration which in
many respects were original .
Many of the institutions created
by him form the basis of our
present judicial system.
They figure as an outstanding
mark in our legal history next to
those made by Lord Cornwallis.
Various reforms made by him are
discussed in this project.
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Öarlier there was only one Sadar Adalat at
Calcutta.
People had to travel long distances to seek
justice from that court.
Therefore in many cases, people instead of
going to the Adalat, preferred to suffer
injustice.
It was necessary that a Sadar Adalat should be
created in those far situated areas which had
now come under the jurisdiction of the
company.
By regulation VI of 1831, Lord William
Bentinck met that demand and established a
Sadar Diwani Adalat and a Sadar Nizamat
Adalat at Allahabad from 1st January, 1832.
The constitution and the powers of the
Adalat were the same as that of the Adalat
at Calcutta.
The territorial jurisdiction of the Adalat
extended to Banaras province and other
conquered areas including the districts of
Meerut, Saharanpur, Muzzafarpur Nagar
and Bulandshahr.
 
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In the administration of criminal justice,
Bentinck made far-reaching changes which may
be discussed as follows:-

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The Circuit Court which was the man court of
criminal judiciary, was suffering from many
defects ²
firstly the court had heavy workload and
therefore, the arrears went on piling and justice
was delayed.
 Secondly, in many cases reference was to be
made to the Sadar Nizamat Adalat which did
not entertain the cases for years

Thirdly, the number of circuit courts was limited

with largely territorial jurisdictionK

mourthly, the territory being large and the

turn of the courts being hardly twice a year,
these courts did not understand the nature of
the people
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àegulation 1 of 1829 replaced the Circuit Courts
with the courts of the commissioner.
The entire area was divided into divisions and for
each division a commissioner was appointed called
the Commissioner of àevenue and Circuit.
He had the powers of superintendence and control
over the magistrates, police, collectors and other
revenue officers.
He was subject to the control of the Sadar Nizamat
Adalat and to the board of revenue. the
commissioners were also authorized to hear
appeals against the decisions of the Magistrates
and the Joint Magistrates.
The creation of the court of commissioner
gave relief to the people to the extent
that the commissioner was more easily
available and his territorial jurisdiction
was smaller than that of the circuit court

Also, he could more easily and better

understand the needs of the people.

But the problem of the arrears and the

delay in justice could not be fully solved.
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àegulation vii of 1831 authorized the

government to invest the judges of the
district Diwani Adalat with duties of the
Sessions.
The Sessions Judges tried those cases which
were committed to them by the Magistrates.
The creation of this new court gave very
efficient and immediate justice to the people
and the problems of arrears was also solved
to a great extent.
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Lord Hastings under his scheme of 1821,

authorized the government to confer upon the
collectors magisterial powers, but that authority
was actually exercised only during the time of
Bentinck.

However, the authorizing of a revenue officer

with the powers to determine the fate of the
people in criminal matters was against the
principal of natural justice.
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The participation of Indians was increased in the
criminal administration of justice by lord
Bentinck through a regulation of 1831.
It authorized the magistrates to refer any
criminal case to a Sadar Ameen or a Principal
Sadar Ameen for investigation.
They could award punishment up to a period of
one month along with hard labour and corporal
punishment not exceeding 30 àattans.
murther, the provisions were made for Indians to
associate as assessors and jurors in criminal trials
 
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More important reforms

were made by Bentinck in
the administration of justice
in civil cases than those made
in criminal justice.
The most important aspect of
these reforms was the
increased participation of
Indians with substantial
powers given to them.
The reforms so made are-
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The number of Munsifs and Sadar
Ameens in the civil judicature
was increased by Bentinck to a
great extent by specifying the
local jurisdiction of those officers.
murther by àegulation of 1830, the
jurisdiction of the Munsifs was
raised to às. 300 in all matters.
A monthly salary was also fixed
for them and the existing system
of giving them commission or fee
per case was abolished.
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A court of Principal Sadar
Ameen with a native officer was
created.
He was to be appointed by the
Governor-General-In-Council and
was given powers to decide cases
of civil nature of the value of às
1000 to às 5000 if referred to
him by the district Diwani
Adalat.
He was also authorized to hear
appeals against the decisions of
the Munsifs and Sadar Ameens
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The àegistrar was deprived

of all the judicial powers
which he was exercising so
far.

His powers were transferred

to the Sadar Ameen and
Principal Sadar Ameen.
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By àegulation ii of 1833, the
Governor-General-In-Council
was specifically authorized to
abolish all the provincial courts
of appeals.
àegulation vii of the same year
authorized the Governor-
General-In-Council to appoint
additional judges to help the
district judge in his civil work
with the same powers of
deciding cases as the district
judge.
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àegulation vi of 1832
authorized the Governor-
General-In-Council to empower
any judge of the Diwani Adalat
to take the help of the jury in
any civil case.
The jury could be of three
types:-
certain prominent members of
the locality who gave their
report after an enquiry of the
dispute
 Two persons as assessors
who had to hear evidence
with the judge and to give
their separate reports on
the facts.

Certain prominent
persons of the area to
work as jurors.
  
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)
Lord Bentinck made very important
contributions to the administration of justice.
It can be said with certainty that the main
outlines of the present Indian legal system were
settled during his time.
According to Dr. M.P. Jain. ´the key note of
Bentinck·s judicial reforms was indianisation and
economyµ.
The reforms of Lord Bentinck were more far-
reaching in effect and vouchsafed greater
efficiency within quite reasonable pecuniary
limits.
The most distinguished of all these reforms was the
increased employment of Indians in the civil and
criminal judicature with substantial powers given to
them.
However, they suffered from may drawbacks, for
e.g.,
They had a limited monetary jurisdiction.
The suits of high amount which were decided by the
principal Sadar Ameen were not filed in his court.
The Americans and the British were excluded from
the jurisdiction of the courts of the Indian judges.
No power of final adjudication was given to any
court presided oven by an Indian judge.
In all matters, their decisions were appealable to
the court of Önglish judges.