In 1799, the Kingdom of Travancore became a vassal state of the
British Empire. British diplomats encouraged judicial reform as they became involved in the political affairs of Travancore. In 1811, following the 1808 insurrection against British Cochin and
Quilon,
Colonel John Munro succeeded
Colonel Macaulay as the
Resident in Travancore with supervision over the Kingdom of Cochin. Following an investigation into the rampant lawlessness and the
abuse of the system, Colonel Munro surveyed the region with his assistant Captain Blacker and established reforms including courts, pensions, and construction of roads, bridges and schools. He functioned as the
Diwan until February 1818 when he handed over the reins to Nanjappayya of
Coimbatore. Thus it was Colonel Munro who laid the foundations for a systematic legal system, resulting in the present day scenario. Until his time, there were no independent tribunals for the administration of justice.
Judicial system in the Kingdom of Travancore In the Kingdom of Travancore, Munro recommended necessary regulations to be passed for the reorganisation of the Courts. These recommendations were accepted by the then king and a Regulation in tune to his recommendations was passed in 1811. Zilla Courts and a Huzur Court were established in the Kingdom of Travancore, in the years 1811 and 1814 respectively. Munro established five zilla (District) courts in A.D 1811 at
Padmanabhapuram,
Thiruvananthapuram,
Mavelikkara,
Vaikom and
Aluva. Huzur Court, which functioned as the final appellate Court was later replaced by Sadar Court in 1861. Sadar Court, which possessed almost all the powers of the present High Court of Kerala, continued functioning until 1881. Later in 1887, the High Court of Travancore was established with bench strength of five judges. One among the five judges was appointed as the Chief Justice. The judges had the assistance of a Pundit, who acted as an
amicus curiae to advise them on the various points of
Hindu law. Ramachandra Iyer was appointed as the first Chief Justice.
Judicial system in the Kingdom of Cochin In the
Kingdom of Cochin, Desavazhis and Naduvazhis were empowered to settle the disputes following the prevailing customary law. More serious matters used to be attended by the monarch himself. In 1812, for the first time in its history, graded law courts were established under the Diwanship of Colonel Munro, in the Kingdom of Cochin. The first Subordinate Courts (Sub Courts) were established by Colonel Munro at
Trichur (Thrissur) and
Tripunithura. Until 1835, Huzur Court was the final appellate Court. Huzur Court had a bench strength of three judges. Later the Huzur Court was reconstituted as Rajah's Court of Appeal and Subordinate Courts were reconstituted as Zilla Courts. The Zilla Courts were empowered with unlimited jurisdiction, but subject to the confirmation from the Rajah's Court of Appeal. The Rajah's Court of Appeal was reconstituted as the Chief Court of Cochin in 1900. The Chief Court of Cochin had three permanent judges one of whom acted as the Chief Judge. Mr. S. Locke was appointed as the first Chief Judge. Later the Chief Court of Cochin was reconstituted as the High Court, during the Diwanship of
Sri Shanmukham Chettiyar.
After the integration of Travancore and Cochin kingdoms After India gained her
independence on 15 August 1947, the Kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin were integrated to form the
Travancore-Cochin State or Thiru-Kochi on 1 July 1949. Later, the High Court of Travancore-Cochin was established at
Kochi on 7 July 1949 under the Travancore-Cochin High Court Act (1949). Mr. Puthupally Krishna Pillai was the last Chief Justice of High Court of Travancore-Cochin.
Establishment of High Court of Kerala On 1 November 1956, the
States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was passed thereby integrating the State of
Travancore-Cochin with
Malabar district and
Kasaragod to form the present State of Kerala. The High Court of Kerala, as it is today was established on 1 November 1956 as the High Court designated for the State of Kerala.
The Kerala High Court Act, 1958 defined the jurisdiction and various functions, and powers of the High Court of Kerala. Initially, many cases from both the Travancore-Cochin High Court and the
High Court of Madras were transferred to the High Court of Kerala for adjudication. Justice K. T. Koshi was appointed as the first Chief Justice of High Court of Kerala. == Chief Justice and Judges ==