Legal History-Administration of Justice in Bombay (1668-1726)

Story About Bombay

In 1534, Portuguese acquired Bombay from Local Hindu Raja. Then Bombay was given to King Charles II as dowry in his sister's marriage to in 1661.
In 1668 Bombay was given to rent to East India Company for a rent of 10 £. By today's exchange it would be around 100 Rs. So  yes, Bombay was given on rent to East India Company for the price of 10 Vada-Pav.

Administration of Bombay was subordinate to Surat back then. After renting it, company issued a charter in 1668 granting company some rights to make laws to deal with Bombay.

Like Administration in Madras, development of Earlier administration could be studied in 3 stages.

First Stage: 1670-1683 (Aungier Eara)

During this period Bombay was subordinated to Surat. The Governor of Surat was ex-officio Governor of Bombay, though Bombay had Deputy Governor and Council.

Gerald Aungier brought some changes in Administration of justice. Two plans, i.e plan of 1670 and plan of 1672 made progress in sound administration of justice.

Plan of 1670

Bombay was divided in two division.
First consisted of Bombay, Mazgaon and Goregaon
Second consisted of Mahim, Parel, Sion and Worli.

See those in railway map. Ciricled in Blue and black. (Not exactly circle but some irregular polygon)

Approximate Locations

In each of this division, one court was established. Each Court then constituted of 5 Judges. One of them was President.
3 Judges used to form Quorum.
This court used to hear cases upto 200 Xeraphins. Aproximately 200 Rs.
The court also have jurisdiction to try cases of felony, murder and mutiny.
Appeal lies to Governor and Council.

Plan of 1672

Court of Judicature was established. Independent judges were appointed to this court. This court was empowered to hear all cases like civil, criminal, probate and testamentary.
Court used to charge fees of 5% of suite under consideration.
If Plaintiff were poor then some concession would be granted to them.


Along with above court, to try petty cases Court of Conscience were established. This court was to seat at once a week. No poor were charged court fees.

For Criminal Justice, Bombay divided in Bombay, Mahim, Mazgaon and Sion. In Each of these division justice of peace was appointed. These were Englishmen. They also have to act like Committing magistrate like arresting the offender.


To conclude this state, it can be seen that well defined jurisdiction and hierarchy was established. Justice was also available to poor and lower middle class people. Laws to be followed were also clear. These courts have fairly independent judges. At some instances it happened that Judges were dismissed because Governor were not pleased. Thought Gerald Aungier set good precedent, but it couldn't be carried forward.

Second Stage: 1684-1690 (Admiralty Court)

 In earlier post related to Administration in Madras, wherein I wrote about Admiralty Courts which have mercantile and maritime jurisdiction.
This phase was marred by various conflict between Judiciary and Executive i.e Governor.

Dr John, was fearless judge who confronted various executives in late 1680s and consequently dismissed.

Around 1690, Mughal Admiral sacked the city. Stage Ends..!!

Third Stage: 1718-1726-Restart

Court of Judicature again started in 1718 (25th March to be precise).

Earlier there used to be 5 members which now enhanced to 10.
Out of these 10, one was chief justice, 5 were of British Origin and the remaining 4 were Indians.
These 4 typically would be chosen in such a way that they would represent major 4-5 Communities i.e Hindus, Muslims, Portuguese and Christian + Parsis. 

Some features:
  • Cases were to be decided by law, equity, justice and good conscience.
  • No Jury trial process were carried out
  • Quorum of judges were fixed at 3 judges, and they used to be all Englishmen.
  • Appeal would lie in Court of Governor and Council

Good about these court were first time Indian representation were made to judicial administration. But sadly they were not given the same status as that of their English counterpart.




Please point out any mistake in comment if any.

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