Digital Archives of the Parliament Library & Why Law Univs Must Focus on Researching This

Recently, the Parliament of India has made public its archives in digitised format in the form of a separate page called Parliament Digital Library. We have just skimmed the surface of the archives. The most important thing is that it brings together in one place the legislative history of most of Indian statues, including the ones made by the British. For instance, it contains the discussions of the Council of the Governor General of India on laws such as the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 April 1872), and other laws enacted during the period. We will try to have detailed posts on certain laws. But this is an important resource and is a must read for all interested in Indian law, especially law academicians and researchers. 

I think it is now the solemn duty of law universities to research on this and write a lot of articles on these subjects. These will provide a better perspective on the purpose of drafting a particular provision in a particular manner. These will gave considerable insight on how statutes were enacted in India during that period.  

For instance, on liquidated damages, James Stephen said in the Council: 

"The only other matter of importance on which we have differed with the Commissioners is the question of liquidated damages. The law of England on the question whether, when a man promises in a certain event to pay a specified sum, he is bound or not to pay it in full, is rather intricate; and, in order to avoid that intricacy, the Commissioner proposed to enact that, in all cases, Such penalties should be treated as liquidated damages. We agreed that the intricacy should be removed, but, for the reasons assigned in our report, thought that it should be removed by the converse operation of turning all liquidated damages into penalties. This we proposed to qualify by an exception, which, 8.S it stands in the Bill, is not very neat, and which I propose to amend· It applies to the case of bail-bonds, recognizances, and the like, and to persons who, under the orders of Government, give bonds for the due performance of public duties."

At another place, a member of the Council noted: "As to the provisions of section 74 of the Bill, on the subject of liquidated damages, HIS HONOUR would say that he believed the Committee had done great service in putting it into a shape which, although in some respects opposed to the English law, appeared to be fair and equitable." 

Thus, the section as it originally stood was based on fairness and equity! But the way in which it was construed during the early period of the Act till 1899, as this post goes to show, was totally contrary to the intent of the drafters and the Council. It is also interesting to note that the Indian Law Commissioners, sitting in England (?), wanted to make all penalties as liquidated damages, until contrary is shown. 

Some of the information contained in the archives, such as those discussed above relating to contract law, are already in public domain in the form of secondary sources. But it is excellent to access the primary sources. Hence the excitement in this post.  

Machi, open the webpage! 

Happy researching!