Wigs before Writs India after 1947: Challenges, Changes and Continuities of the India's Judiciary

Abstract This paper analyses the evolution of India’s judicial system across the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-Independence periods through the interrelated themes of change, continuity, and challenge. It examines how indigenous systems of justice, grounded in customary law and community-based dispute resolution, were transformed under British colonial rule into a centralised and codified legal framework designed to serve imperial governance. Following Independence in 1947, India adopted this inherited structure within a constitutional democracy, fundamentally reshaping the role of the judiciary through judicial review, the protection of fundamental rights, the Basic Structure doctrine, and the expansion of Public Interest Litigation. Despite these transformative constitutional developments, significant continuities persist in legal procedures, institutional hierarchies, and colonial-era laws. The paper argues that India’s judicial development reflects a layered and adaptive process in which constitutional reform coexists with enduring historical legacies, while ongoing challenges such as judicial delay and access to justice continue to shape its functioning.