Jury in India
29 Sept 2009, 07:32
I saw a message post for favourite movies and the movie “Achanak” came to my mind. I was wondering if any of you had any views on the abolition of the jury system in India.
If you were wondering the movie Achanak was a hit movie of the 70s based on the KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra.
The Govt. of India gave one reason as: “…the jury had been influenced by media and public support for Nanavati and was also open to being misled, the Indian government abolished jury trials after this case.”
Does one trial negate the entire system. Agreed there is room for influence but that does not mean that the entire system is faulty. If anything, it was a check on the powers of the judge.
Any thoughts?
1 Reply
Movies likes Achanak, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla are examples of how reel life gets inspired by real life.
One common denominator of both these movies was its emphasis on jury system of justice delivery which got abolished in 1960 and perhaps rightly so!
Leave aside a room for influence what we come across nowadays is a near collapse of the way justice is dispensed. Imagine the state of affairs if the jury system was still in practice keeping in mind the rampant corruption from bottom to top. A common man is as much likely to be manipulated as any govt. official. Who can deny the menace of hostile witnesses, for instance?
‘Trial by the media’ as we call it these days was a potential reason for discarding the jury system way back then, but we can’t overlook questions of fact and law in a trial.
Alas, the truth is that we don’t live in an ideal world and scripts like Ek Ruka Hua Faisla are more indicative of what should be and not what the reality is today. Hate to sound cynical but isn’t it a fact?