Did Pakistan Inherit a Good Judicial System?

As already explained, after the defeat of Ghadar, the local polity followed the legal and constitutional changes introduced by the British authorities. These new ideas of ‘constitutionality’ and ‘legality’ became the dominant mode for legal policy at the national level (both Congress and Muslim League-ML), with exception of the Ghadar Party (1913), Bhagat Singh’s movement (1930) and finally Subhash Chandra Bose (1940s).^[159] The rule of law became so pervasive that by the 1950s, the dominant opinion was that Pakistan had inherited a good judicial system.^[160] The Law Reforms Commission (1967-1970) found that the essential principles of the Mughal system of administration of justice were sound and efficient and that the British had only changed the system in those areas which were previously unreg­ulated.

The only exceptional voice in this regard was that of Chief Justice Cornelius. He discussed the diversity of the courts and laws before the British arrival. According to Cornelius, during the period of Hindu rulers, there was also a gradation of courts. Landowners or Zamindars had jurisdiction over the population in the courts of the territories. Gradually, in his view, British rule displaced the prior forms of justice and discriminated against the locals, as they could not sue any British person. All of the judges were European, with the East India Company having jurisdiction all over the subcontinent.