Which of the following statements about the Hastings Plan of 1772 is/are correct? 1. Each district was to have a civil and a criminal Court. 2. The Judges were helped by native assessors who were skilled in Hindu and Islamic laws. l 3. The Sadar Diwani Adalat was mainly meant to settle mercantile cases exceeding f 10,000 in value. 4. These Courts did not put into place any procedural improvements. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

The Hastings Plan of 1772 established a dual court system in each district: a Mofussil Diwani Adalat for civil disputes and a Mofussil Fauzdari Adalat for criminal cases [1]. Statement 1 is correct as it laid the foundation for this district-level hierarchy [1]. Statement 2 is correct because European Collectors, who presided over civil courts, were assisted by native pundits and kazis (assessors) skilled in Hindu and Islamic laws to interpret personal codes. Statement 3 is incorrect; while the Sadar Diwani Adalat was the supreme court of appeal, the threshold for appeals was generally cases exceeding 500 rupees, not a specific 10,000 rupee mercantile limit. Statement 4 is incorrect as the plan introduced significant procedural improvements, such as the abolition of judicial commissions in favor of government court fees and the requirement for records to be maintained in courts.

Sources

1. [1] Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 6: Administrative Organisation and Social and Cultural Policy > Judicial Organisation > p. 111