FAMOUS TRIALS OF THE NATIONAL PERIOD

Question 1

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Bahadur Shah Zafar?

Answer 1

• Trial– January 27, 1858 to March 9, 1858 in Red Fort (Delhi).
• Charges– Treason, Conspiracy, Rebellion and Murder in 1857 revolt.
• Verdict– convicted and exiled to Rangoon.

Question 2

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Surendranath Banerjee?

Answer 2

• Trial– May 4-5, 1883 in Calcutta High Court.
• Charges– contempt of court, on his remarks in The Bengalee.
• Verdict– sent to jail for two years.

Question 3

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Bal Gangadhar Tilak?

Answer 3

• Trial– 1897, 1908, 1916.
• Charges– provocative articles in Kesari.
• Verdict – 18 months imprisonment (1897); six years exile to Mandalay and fine of Rs 1000 for seditious writings (1908); no jail sentence was imposed (1916).

Question 4

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Aurobindo Ghosh?

Answer 4

• Trial– Aurobindo Ghosh and 37 others in Alipore Bombay Trial; 1908-1909.
• Charges– attempt to murder district judge of Muzaffarpur.
• Verdict– spent a year in jail as an undertrial prisoner.

Question 5

Trial, Charges and Verdict against V.D. Savarkar?

Answer 5

• Trial– 1910 and January 1911.
• Charges– delivering infuriating speeches against British and procuring and distributing arms.
• Verdict– two consecutive life transportations (50) years; the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague also held him guilty; spent 10 years in Andaman jail (1911-1921).

Question 6

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Gandhi and Shankarlal Banker (publisher of Young India)?

Answer 6

• Trial– 1922
• Charges– four inflammatory articles against the British in Young India.
• Verdict– sentenced to jail for 6 years; but set free in 1924.

Question 7

Trial, Charges and Verdict against 31 communists in the Meerut Conspiracy Case?

Answer 7

• Trial– March 1929.
• Charges– conspiracy against the British.
• Verdict– recieved sentences varying from 3 years to life sentences.

Question 8

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Bhagat Singh?

Answer 8

• Trial– June 1929.
• Charges– throwing a bomb in Central Assembly.
• Verdict– recieved transportation for life.
• Trial– July 1929.
• Charges– killing police head constable, Saunders.
  ‐ Verdict– sentenced to death.

Question 9

Trial, Charges and Verdict against M.N. Roy?

Answer 9

• Trial– 1931-1932.
• Charges– conspiracy and sedition.
• Verdict– sentenced to 12 years imprisonment (later reduced to 6 years).

Question 10

Trial, Charges and Verdict against Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon?

Answer 10

• Trial– INA Trials, 1945 at Red fort, Delhi.
• Charges– waging war by murdering or abetment of murder.
• Verdict– sentences of transportation for life were remitted; but those of cashiering and forfeiture of arrears of pay and allowances were confirmed.

Question 11

Sedition charges during modern history?

Answer 11

1. Wahabis- 1860
2. Jogendra Chandra Bose, editor of Bangoboshi, for voicing against Age of Consent Bill, 1891.
3. Bal Gangadhar Tilak- 1897- for exhorting to act against Rand, Plague Commissioner and in 1909- for articles published in Kesari for which he was deported to Mandalay.
4. Swami Govindanand 1921.
5. Gandhi 1922, articles published in Young India.
6. MN Roy- 1931-32.
7. Jawaharlal Nehru- 1933 condemned imperialism and praised heroism of revolutionaries.
8. SS Batliwala and Yusuf Meherally.