Hello friends, what is the Charter of 1726 in this article. The main provisions of the Royal Charter of 1726 (establishment of the Mayor’s Court) and its merits and demerits have been described. In this article, an attempt has been made to explain the Royal Charter of 1726, which is also known as the Judicial Charter, in simple words. , Hope you will like this Article –

Introduction – Charter of 1726

In the legal history of India, the year 1726 was a new beginning for the judicial system. By 1726, the East India Company had expanded its reach in India. The East India Company had established many of its English settlements in the areas of Madras, Bombay and Bengal (Calcutta), these settlements are called Presidencies.

The East India Company, while interfering in the judicial system here, also implemented the English judicial system in these three Presidency cities and established different types of courts.

But the geographical and historical conditions and stages of development of these three Presidency cities were different from each other, due to which, due to difference in the origin and development of the judicial system established here, the judicial system became unequal, unsatisfactory and disorganized, leading to differences in decisions. There was also no certainty, due to which the Company’s judicial system could not succeed in these Presidency cities.

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Whereas the East India Company needed a strong, well-organized, sure and uniform judicial system in all three Presidencies (Madras, Bombay and Calcutta) for its trade in India, expansion of the company and to gain the trust of Indians.

On the request of the East India Company, the then Emperor of England, George I, issued a Charter on September 24, 1726 to establish a uniform, strong, secure and well-organized judicial system in the three Presidency areas, which was issued in 1726. Became famous by the name of Judicial Charter. Dr. M.P. Jain described this Gazette as paving the way for the development and expansion of judicial institutions in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

Thus, by the Charter of 1726, the company based in India was given the power to issue rules, bye-laws and ordinances. The charter of 1726 also holds an important place because it was through this charter that the path for the development and expansion of judicial institutions in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta was paved.

Provisions of the Charter of 1726

Mainly three types of provisions (administrative provisions, judicial provisions, legislative provisions) were implemented in the Charter of 1726 which are as follows –

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(i) Administrative provisions –

Under the administrative provision, to raise the administrative level of the Presidency cities (Madras, Bombay and Calcutta), the Municipal Corporation established by the Company in Madras was abolished in 1687 AD and new cities were formed in the Presidency cities (Madras, Bombay and Calcutta). The corporation was established.

The jurisdiction of each Municipal Corporation was limited to the limits of the Presidency town and the local factories subordinate to them.

By Charter of 1726, a mayor and nine aldermen were appointed for each municipal corporation, in which the mayor and seven aldermen were required to be English persons and the remaining two aldermen could be from among the subjects of such rulers who were friends of the company and could not be of any caste. Could have happened.

The tenure of the Mayor was for one year and the tenure of the Aldermen was permanent. The mayor was elected annually by the aldermen from among themselves. It was necessary for every mayor and alderman to take an oath to work faithfully to his post. After the tenure of the Mayor ended, he could reside in the Presidency City in the capacity of an Alderman and the Alderman could hold his post for life or till he resided in the Presidency City.

By this royal charter, the Governor in Council was given the right that on the basis of proper evidence, he could remove the Mayor and Aldermen from their posts for misusing their power. A mayor or alderman removed from office could appeal against the decision of the Governor in Council to the King’s Council in England.

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(ii) Judicial provisions –

The main objective of the Charter of 1726 was to establish a definite and uniform judicial system in the Presidency towns, as a result of which the following provisions were made in this Gazette –

(a) Establishment of Mayor Court –

By the charter of 1726, a Mayor’s Court was established in every Presidency town, consisting of a Mayor and no Aldermen. By this royal decree, the Mayor Court was given the jurisdiction to hear civil, criminal and will related cases. This court met at most three times a week and dealt with all the civil cases of the Presidency towns and their subordinate settlements.

In the royal charter of 1726, it was not mentioned on which method the Mayor Court would function, but it was only mentioned that the decisions of this court should be just and appropriate. The Mayor’s Court was also a court of record which could punish persons guilty of contempt.

(b) Appointment of Sheriff –

One sheriff each was appointed by the Governor and the Council in each Presidency city (Madras, Bombay and Calcutta) to serve the summons issued to the defendant by the Mayor’s Court and to execute the decrees given by the Court. The tenure of the Sheriff was for one year, whose jurisdiction was an area of ​​up to 10 miles around the Presidency town.

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(c) Establishment of Appellate Court –

There was also a provision in the charter of 1726 for the formation of appellate courts. An appeal against the decision given by the Mayor’s Court could be made in the court of the Governor in Council within 14 days from the date of the decision, this was the first appeal. In cases of assessment of up to one thousand pagodas, the decision of the Court of the Governor in Council was final.

But there was a provision to appeal against the decisions of cases involving valuation of more than one thousand pagodas to the Privy Council (England) within 14 days from the date of the decision of the Governor-in-Council, this was the second appeal and its decision was final.

(d) System of peace judges –

Under the charter of 1726, a provision was made to appoint the Governor of each Presidency town and five senior members of its council as Justices of the Peace for the administration of criminal justice and the functions, powers and jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace were similar to those of the Justices of the Peace of England. Same as it was.

(y) Constitution of Session Court –

The Mayor’s Court did not have criminal jurisdiction; Courts of Session were formed under the Charter of 1726 to hear criminal cases. The Justice of the Peace was its presiding officer and these judges could arrest criminals and punish them for minor crimes. These courts used to hear criminal cases four times a year, i.e. every quarter.

(r) Jury system –

Under the charter of 1726, arrangements were made for grand jury and general jury to settle criminal cases. The job of the jury was to inform the court about the facts of a case on the basis of evidence and the job of the grand jury was to present the criminals before the court. That is, criminal cases were tried with the help of a jury. There used to be 23 members in the grand jury.

(iii) Legislative provisions –

Many important legislative provisions were also implemented in the Gazette of 1726. Before 1726 AD, all the methods were made in England and were implemented in India by the East India Company. But the Court of Directors of the England-based company was completely unaware of the conditions in India, due to which the laws made by them did not prove to be effective here (India). Apart from this, due to the establishment of Municipal Corporations in Presidency cities, it became necessary to change this method of law making.

For this reason, the Governors in Council of the Presidency towns repeatedly requested the Company that uniform methods could not be used in these Presidency towns because their geographical and historical conditions were different from each other. Presidency towns were required to formulate laws according to their circumstances.

Therefore, under the Charter of 1726, partial right to make laws for administrative system was given to the Presidency cities of India so that they could issue rules, bye-laws and ordinances etc. according to their circumstances. But for this it was necessary that –

(1) These should not be contrary to English law.

(2) Such rules, bye-laws, ordinances etc. should be reasonable i.e. just,

(3) These could not take the form of law unless they were approved in writing by the Court of Directors of the company.

Thus, for the first time, through the Charter of 1726 AD, the right to make laws could be transferred from England to India and any person violating the law thus made could be punished by the Governor.

Dr. M.P. Jain in his work “Indian Legal History” has described it as an important and unique gazetteer of the history of Indian law.

Features of Charter Act of 1726 –

In the history of Indian law, the Gazette of 1726 is considered important because it was this Gazette that paved the way for making laws in India. This Gazette contained many features, the main features of which are as follows –

(i) By the Charter of 1726, Mayor’s Corporation was established for smooth and effective administration in the three Presidency towns.

(ii) By the Charter of 1726, the judicial system of the Presidency cities (Bombay, Madras and Calcutta) was abolished and a uniform judicial system was established there because there was no uniformity in the earlier judicial system.

(iii) Establishment of Mayor Court, Justice of the Peace and Sessions Courts in India directly by the Charter of 1726, whereas the then courts were established under the law made by the Company.

(iv) For the first time, by the Charter of 1726, there was a provision for appealing to the Privy Council, the King in Council, against cases costing more than one thousand pagodas.

(v) By the Charter of 1726, the judiciary was separated from the executive and given an independent and impartial form.

(vi) By the Charter of 1726, English law emerged as local law in India, which is considered an important achievement.

(vii) For the first time, by the Charter of 1726, the Governor in Council was given powers to pass rules, bye-laws and ordinances etc. to solve local problems.

Thus, the Charter of 1726 was an important Gazette which provided an independent, impartial, assured and strong form to the then judicial system.

Demerits of the Charter Act of 1726 –

The Charter of 1726 had many merits, yet the Charter of 1726 became a victim of criticism and many types of defects came to light, the main defects of which were as follows –

(i) The judges appointed by this Gazette were generally businessmen. It was not necessary for the judge to be a legal expert. Due to lack of knowledge of law, justice could not be expected from them. This was a significant shortcoming of this Gazette.

(ii) The Charter of 1726 is said to be an important document of separation of judiciary and executive, but generally it was not so because only the Governor in Council had the right to hear appeals against the decisions of the Mayor Court. Besides, the court of the Governor in Council also had the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases.

In this way, the legislature and the executive were neither completely separated nor independent, that is, the Council of Governors performed the functions of both the judiciary and the legislature.

(iii) There used to be a situation of conflict between the members of the Mayor’s Court and the Governor in Council. The members of the Governor-in-Council always considered themselves above the judges of the Mayor Court, whereas the judges of the Mayor Court, regardless of them, decided the cases according to their knowledge and discretion.

(iv) The imposition of English law on the Indian people in their personal and local matters was a grave mistake of this Gazette because it had created dissatisfaction among the Indians. Some important cases reflecting the justice system of Mayor Court are worth noting, such as :-

(a) Sankuram’s case,

(b) Teriyani’s case,

(c) Pagoda oath case etc.

Thus, the Charter of 1726 could not remain in effect for long and to overcome its shortcomings, a new Gazette had to be issued in 1753.

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