The legal system of India
A common-law system inherited from British India, governed by the world’s longest written constitution, with religion-based personal laws in marriage and succession and an exceptionally activist Supreme Court exercising public interest jurisdiction.
Legal tradition
India belongs to the common law with personal-law pluralism tradition. A common-law system inherited from British India, governed by the world’s longest written constitution, with religion-based personal laws in marriage and succession and an exceptionally activist Supreme Court exercising public interest jurisdiction.
How power is divided
Parliamentary federalism with subjects distributed across Union, State and Concurrent Lists; judicial review is entrenched, and writ jurisdiction under Articles 32 and 226 is broad.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Supreme; amendable under Article 368 subject to basic structure.
- Central and State legislation
- Allocated by the Seventh Schedule lists.
- Judicial precedent
- Supreme Court decisions bind all courts under Article 141.
- Personal laws
- Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Parsi law in family matters.
- Customary law
- Recognised where ancient, certain and not unreasonable.
The legal profession
A single fused profession of advocates enrolled with State Bar Councils under the Advocates Act 1961, subject to the All India Bar Examination.
Law by topic in India
- Business & CorporateCompanies Act 2013 with fully online incorporationPrivate limited companies incorporate through the MCA's SPICe+ form with no minimum capital. At least one director must be resident in India for 182 days or more.
- Data Protection & PrivacyDigital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, phased into forceThe DPDP Act replaces the earlier IT Rules framework with a consent-centred regime supervised by a Data Protection Board. Rules bringing provisions into force are being notified in stages.
- Constitutional LawThe world's longest written constitution with a basic structure doctrineThe 1950 Constitution guarantees fundamental rights enforceable directly in the Supreme Court under Article 32. Kesavananda Bharati (1973) held that amendments cannot destroy the constitution's basic structure.
- Civil Procedure1908 CPC, with commercial courts and pre-institution mediationCivil suits run under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. The Commercial Courts Act 2015 created a faster track for commercial disputes above a threshold and made pre-institution mediation mandatory.
- Immigration & Nationalitye-Visa for most visitors, employment visa needs a salary floorIndia runs a broad e-Visa system for tourism and business. An employment visa requires a sponsoring Indian entity and, for most roles, an annual salary above a prescribed threshold, and OCI status offers near-permanent residence.
- Criminal LawThree new criminal codes replaced the colonial statutes in July 2024The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into force on 1 July 2024, replacing the 1860 Penal Code, 1973 CrPC and 1872 Evidence Act.
- Property & LandState-level land law, and RBI rules on who may buyLand is a state subject, so registration and stamp duty differ by state. Non-resident Indians may buy residential and commercial property; other foreign nationals generally cannot without RBI permission, and nobody may buy agricultural land.
- Family LawPersonal law by religion, with a secular alternativeHindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsis each have their own marriage, divorce and succession law. The Special Marriage Act 1954 offers a religion-neutral route, and Goa alone has a uniform civil code.
- Employment & LabourFour Labour Codes enacted but still not fully in forceParliament consolidated twenty-nine statutes into four Codes between 2019 and 2020, but commencement awaits state rules, so the older Acts continue to govern in most states.
- Tax LawNew Income-tax Act 2025 replaces the 1961 Act from April 2026GST has applied to most indirect taxation since 2017. On the direct side the Income-tax Act 2025 received assent in August 2025 and takes effect from 1 April 2026, replacing the 1961 Act.
Found something out of date on India?
Corrections are reviewed against the primary source before anything changes.