Previous Year Question
The tendency for increased litigation was visible after the introduction of the land settlement system of Lord Cornwallis in 1793. The reason for this is normally traced to which of the following provisions ?
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
Option (d) is correct. The Permanent Settlement of 1793 and Cornwallis's judicial reforms formed parts of the same wider administrative reorganisation, but the specific reason for the increase in litigation is not accurately stated in options (a), (b), or (c).
Regulation II of 1793 abolished the Mal Adalats or Revenue Courts and transferred their cases to the Diwani Adalats. Judicial authority was withdrawn from Collectors, who were thereafter confined principally to revenue collection. This constituted an important move towards separating revenue administration from judicial functions. The historical account of the Allahabad High Court also records precisely this change under Regulation II of 1793.
However, the more direct reason for the increase in litigation was the abolition of court/institution fees and the extension of opportunities for appeal. Cornwallis abolished fees for instituting suits in order to make justice cheaper and more accessible. Litigation increased to such an extent that institution fees were reintroduced in 1795, explicitly as a means of discouraging excessive or frivolous litigation. Research on judicial administration available through SOAS records this chronology.
Therefore, option (c) is also not the correct answer. “Making the judicial system more efficient” is a general description; the specific mechanism that increased litigation was not judicial efficiency itself, but cheaper access to courts, abolition of court fees, and wider opportunities for appeal.