Report No. 114

5.8. Indigenous system in India.-

Before the advent of the British system of justice, there undoubtedly was an indigenous system for resolution of disputes in India. The impact of English Language, Western literature, the British system of justice and the universal rationality of Western Law have combined to induce an inbuilt prejudice for anything ancient. However, while trying to unearth and evaluate the indigenous system, it was found 'that the essentials of our ancient system were not very different from those of our present system'1.

While comparing the two systems, it was accepted that the subsidiary features of the present system include clumsy and cumbrous procedure, while the earlier, one was simple and less-formal. Undoubtedly 'as the society advances from stage to stage, its needs alter from time to time and any system which governs the functioning of society or its component parts would also call for progressive modification2. One has, therefore, to keep in mind while devising the modern system, the changes that have occurred in the conditions and structure of the society for which the system is to be devised.

1. LCI Fourteenth Report, Ch. IV, para. 5.

2. LCI Fourteenth Report, Ch. IV, para. 5.