Custom and Law Practices in Central India: some case studies

Abstract

This article features qualitative case law studies based on extensive fieldwork in rural Madhya Pradesh in India. It focuses on perceptions of law in the dispute-settlement process at the grassroots level, highlighting the features of legal consciousness especially in relation to forum-shopping strategies between traditional and official jurisdiction. It shows that at the local level customs are reinterpreted in the light of modern values. Yet they remain the main reference point in the struggle between official law and traditional law.