Trial by jury was a key tenet of the Indian justice system for over 300 years - until a scandalous murder trial in 1959 triggered a judicial overhaul.
How does trial by jury work?
A jury usually consists of 12 randomly selected members of the public. They swear an oath to examine the evidence presented during the trial in an unbiased manner and must then pass a verdict on whether the accused is guilty or not. The judge’s role is limited to guiding the proceedings in accordance with the law.
Origin of trial by jury in India
This legal system was brought to India by the British colonisers with the first record of a jury trial was from the erstwhile Madras Presidency, between 1665 and 1669.
An Englishwoman, Mrs. Ascentia Dawes, was on trial for the murder of her slave - an Indian girl. A grand jury of six English and six Portuguese acquitted Mrs Dawes. Because according to them, it was a ‘menial’ crime.
Things only got worse after this system was formally codified with the Indian Jury Act of 1826. Trials were tainted with institutionalised racial and religious bias. But after 1947, independent India sought judicial reform.
The multicultural, multilingual and multiethnic population made it difficult to form impartial juries. Additionally, there was an acute shortage of formally literate citizens who understood the foreign legal system.
In 1958, the Law Commission of India termed the jury system a failure arguing that juries were highly influenced by public sentiment and media sensationalism.
Just a year later, one case drove home this very point - KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra.
Nanavati was a well-respected Naval Commander. In April 1959, he shot his wife’s lover thrice, using his own service revolver. He even confessed to the crime and surrendered. But, tabloids painted Nanavati as a betrayed hero and a man of honour. And a seemingly swayed jury acquitted him.
The presiding judge found the verdict “perverse”, and referred the case to the Bombay High Court which subsequently overturned the verdict and convicted Nanavati of murder.
It wasn’t the last trial by jury. But the case served as a prime example that juries were prone to emotional misjudgments. And in 1973, the Indian government abolished the system by enacting the Code of Criminal Procedure.
