For Indians, it is a common phenomenon to undermine the judicial system and mock the professionals by saying they don’t do any work. But is it really true?
In the year 2014, the Delhi high court granted a divorce to an 85-year old man after a waiting period of 32 years. This, in turn, shattered all hopes of resuming his married life. There are almost 27 million cases that are pending in the Indian courts while they remain short of around 5000 judges.
The story that I mentioned in the beginning is something that the High Court and Supreme Court judges are facing every day. It’s almost like a bubble breaker for a common man. As a child, there have been innumerable instances where I overheard ‘men in my family’ talk about the legal scenarios and judiciary system of India. Most of the times, it started and ended with the same thing ‘the judges in our country don’t do any work’. It’s easy to say so, but how would we know the reality behind the harsh truth?
Judges, lawyers and the entire judiciary system is working extremely hard to ensure they clear the backlog. They are unable to do so, not because they don’t want to, but because there is a shortage of resources.
In fact, there are a number of law case studies which are extremely long and have a lot of knowledge about law. For example, the Nirbhaya judgement sheet is around 429 pages long which explains the reason it takes a particular case so long.
Here are 5 Interesting Law Case Studies which is a great knowledge takeaway for the students of today:
- Tarakeswar Case (1874)
The popularity of the case is understandable from the fact that authorities had to sell tickets at the entry. The case revolves around Nobin Chandra and his wife Elokeshi. Nobin slit his wife’s throat for allegedly having an affair with the chief priest of Tarakeshwar Temple. Nobin confessed his crime to the police, but the locals were mostly on his side. Due to this, Nobin was released after two years while serving life imprisonment. However, the priest was put behind the bars for three years. In fact, there were rumours doing rounds that the priest had raped Elokeshi by promising to help her with “fertility issues”. This case was even more important due to the ‘British Raj’ prevalent during that time.
- Bhawal Case (1921-1946)
One of the most peculiar identity cases of that time, it revolves around a possible pretender who affirmed to be the prince of Bhawal Estate, largest zamindari estate of Bengal.
Ramendra, a kumar of Bhawal estate died in early 1900, but there was tittle-tattle among people that he was not really dead. In 1921, a religious man who looked like Ramendra was spotted in Dhaka. The former tenants and farmers of Ramendra supported his claim to the title. The entire village trusted him except Ramendra’s widow, Bibhabati. After a long legal procedure of 25 years, the court ruled in his favor after which he passed away due to a stroke.
The interesting thing is that during the case, the look-alike (or whatever) also moved to Calcutta and even collected 1/3rd of the estate revenue.
- Kiranjit Ahluwalia’s Case
Kiranjit Ahluwalia’s case came a year after marital rape was declared as ‘rape’ in 1991. She was convicted of murder by burning her husband alive during his sleep. The lady in question had been a victim of domestic violence for over a decade and had been in severe depression when she took the step. The case set a benchmark for improving public awareness on domestic abuse. As a final verdict, she was convicted to life imprisonment. However, she was later freed as her conviction of murder was reduced to manslaughter.
- Roe V Wade
If you want to understand the implications of judicial decisions on the political and the social environment, no case is as good as this one. The decision in 1973 supported a woman’s right to abortion and is celebrated by women each year today. The popularity of this decision is such that thousands of people march in the support every year.
- Mathura Rape Case (1972)
One of the most prominent cases in the history of India, mainly due to the protests following the final verdict which saw a major overhaul in the rape laws of the country. In the city of Mathura, a tribal woman was raped by two constables within the premises of a police station. During the trial, the judge found the accused not guilty. Can you guess the reason given behind this unfair judgement? As per the judge, a sexual act within the premises of a police station was permitted and consensual. However, this law had to be amended due to the massive protests all over the country, with everyone saying- Submission does not mean consent.
These were some of the cases which are extremely interesting if you go through the entire judgement. Some cases would have surely made you go “Like what! Are you serious this ever happened?” This proves one thing- The lives of lawyers and judges aren’t as easy as it seems and you must be prepared before taking up the L.L.B. course. They may seem right to some and wrong to others. However, as history has it, wherever they have been wrong, they have acknowledged their mistakes, and the judgement has been changed as well. So, let them do their work while we do ours.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SANYA SAJJANHAR
Ms Sanya Sajjanhar is the academic writer at Sharda University. She has keen interest in writing articles pertaining to Law Courses.
