The Common Law in India - College of Social Sciences and ...

CHAPTER 2CIVIL LAWTHE first Law Commission, of which we have alreadyspoken, reasoned that, " in every country there oughtto be a law which is prima facie applicable to everyperson in it ... though British India may appearon the one hand to have less need of a lex loci thanany other country, because the great mass of itspopulation consists of two sects whose law is containedin their religion, yet on the other hand there isprobably no country in the world which contains somany people who, if there is no law of the place,have no law whatever." * On this was founded thedecision to enact in India laws which were to beterritorial in their application. It was not, however,suggested that the personal laws of Hindus orMahomedans should be taken away. The territoriallaw was to be restricted to law applicable to allinhabitants of the country alike.The labours of the first Commission, which we shallhave occasion to refer to later, were solely devotedto the preparation of a general criminal code forthe country.After the Charter Act of 1853 a new Commissionwas appointed which had among its members Sir JohnRomilly, Sir Edward Ryan and Messrs. Cameron andMacleod to whom we shall have occasion to refer later1 Quoted in Rankin, Background to Indian Law, pp. 34-35.63