FROM COLONIAL ANCHORS TO SOVEREIGN SAILS: THE STORY OF INDIAN ADMIRALTY LAW

Maritime law stands out to be one of the most ancient branches of law that governs legal relations emerging due to navigation, shipping, maritime business, marine environment protection, and dispute settlements. India has over 7,500 kilometers of coastal regions and depends heavily on trade borne out of sea, therefore, maritime law holds a lot of significance for it. In addition, the globalization of commercial relations has resulted in an increased need for strong laws that would regulate complex commercial transactions and disputes in the maritime sector. The maritime law system in India used to be based on the laws that the British made during colonization, however, new Indian laws and international agreements emerged. This emergence has made the laws that oversee activities in India much stronger, for example the Merchant Shipping Act of 1958 and the Admiralty Act of 2017. The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical development of Indian maritime law, consider the statutory provisions governing maritime matters and examine the impact of admiralty jurisdiction on dispute settlement. It then focuses on India’s commitments under international maritime conventions and emerging concerns like marine pollution, piracy and technological changes in the field of shipping. The paper concludes that while significant strides have been made, in terms of legislative developments and judicial initiatives, further modernization is still needed for the effective functioning of the Indian maritime law, keeping pace with the current global trends in shipping.