Admiralty Law in India-A historical Perspective

Abstract As a Sea faring nation bound by around 7500 kms of coastlines and huge area of interests in the Indian Ocean, India is directly responsible for dispensing justice in the waters that it exercises control over. India’s naval doctrine propoundsits area of interestsas being from the Gulf of Adenright to the Malacca straits. To maintain sovereignty over such swathes of territory there is a direct need for strict admiralty laws to be put in place to deter even the harshest of the troublemakers. Admiralty law is a code of both domestic laws governing maritime activities, and private international law governing relationships between private entities which operate ships on the oceans. It also brings within its ambit the transportation of passengers and goods by sea, shipping maritime commerce, navigation, other commercial activities etc. The pre-colonial legislation’s that still govern admiralty jurisdiction of Indian Courts needs to be suitably amended to correct the anomalies being created due to a confused legal sector. Neither the Indian Parliament nor the Indian Supreme Court has so far defined the scope and nature of admiralty jurisdiction of our high courts. There persists a direct need to circumvent the old ways and adopt new methods to counter the ever evolving scenarios of our Admiralty sector.