Origin and Evolution of Indian Legal System

Abstract

The article traces the historical development of the Indian legal system from its origins in Vedic dharma to the present constitutional order, arguing that Indian jurisprudence is an unbroken legacy rather than a colonial creation. It explains how early norms contained in the Vedas, Dharma sutras, Manusmriti, and Kautilya’s Arthasastra framed law as Dharma-social duty, righteousness, and ordered conduct administered through a graded hierarchy of family arbitrators, local councils, judges, and the king as the final judicial authority. The paper then examines the impact of Islamic rule, describing the role of Sharia, Qazis, Muftis, and royal complaint courts, followed by the British period in which Anglo-Saxon principles, the Regulating Act 1773, Supreme Courts in the Presidency towns, High Courts (1861), and finally the Federal Court (1935) gradually centralized and formalized adjudication. Post Independence, the study highlights the establishment of the Supreme Court of India in 1950 and the adoption of a written Constitution, while emphasizing that many modern principles, such as judicial hierarchy, open trials, judicial integrity, evidentiary methods, and control of custom, are continuations or refinements of ancient doctrines. Drawing extensively on classical jurists, viz., Manu, Yajnavalkya, Brihaspati, Katyayana, Narada, Kautilya, and modern scholarship, the article concludes that across empires and legal reforms, the central objective of the Indian legal system has remained the same: to uphold justice grounded in Dharma, equity, and impartiality, ensuring that no innocent person is wrongfully punished.