India's contemporary judicial system continues to reflect a deep colonial imprint in its administrative structure, legislative framework, and adjudicatory practices. This article critically examines the persistence of colonial legal structures and ideologies in post-colonial India, arguing that the present judiciary remains substantially colonial in nature. Colonial laws, originally designed as instruments of control and governance, continue to regulate the conduct and transactions of citizens, often celebrated as hallmarks of modern legal rationality despite their failure to embody democratic aspirations. The article further analyses how indigenous legal practices were displaced, curtailed, and transformed through their incorporation into state-controlled judicial machinery. The British policy of administering personal laws to Hindus and Muslims, while applying principles of "justice, equity and good conscience" in other matters, facilitated the selective importation of English law and reinforced social hierarchies, particularly by accommodating upper-caste elites within judicial institutions.
Dr. Jose Kuriakose (Mon,) studied this question.