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Abstract:
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The Union Territory of Pondicherry prior to its merger with the Indian
Union was a French Colony. The erstwhile territory of Pondicherry along with
its hamlets, namely, KARAIKKAL, MAHE and YANAM was administered by the
French Regime. Before it was established by French in 1 6 74 A.D. it was part of
Vijayanagara Empire. Prior to this, Pondicherry was a part of the Kingdom of
Chola and Pallava Kings. During French Regime, the laws which were in force in France in relation to administration of civil and criminal justice were extended to the erstwhile
Territory of Pondicherry. Thus while Pondicherry stood influenced by the
Inquisitorial system since the beginning of the 18th century, the neighboring
states forming part of the Indian Union since Independence came under the
Influence of the British system, viz. accusatorial system.
The territory of Pondicherry, for administrative reasons, came to be
merged with the Indian Union in the early 60's. Following the merger, the Indian
administration sought to extent its own laws from time to time replacing erstwhile
French Laws, however, subject to certain savings. Thus the transitional period
witnessed consequential changes in the administration of the territory, including
the sphere of judicial system. Since I 963, the Union Territory of Pondicherry was
brought under the spell of the Indian Legal System The people in Pondicherry ' thus have had the benefit of experiencing both the svstems. Their experiences will be of much help to those who undertake comparative studies in law. The plus and minus points of the respective systems
help one to develop a detachment that helps independent evaluation of the
svstents. The result of these studies could be relevant in revitalising our criminal
systems.The present system is evaluated in the light of the past system. New
dimensions are added by way' of an empirical study also. |