Previous Year Question

The Ilbert Bill controversy occurred in 1883 during the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon. The Bill was named after Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, the Law Member of the Viceroy’s Council, who introduced the proposed amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Under the prevailing racial arrangement, qualified Indian District Magistrates and Sessions Judges could not try criminal cases involving European British subjects. A European officer holding an equivalent position possessed this authority. The Ilbert Bill sought to remove this racial disqualification and empower qualified Indian judicial officers to try Europeans in criminal cases. Therefore, option C is correct.

The European community in India launched an intense and openly racial agitation against the Bill. This agitation is commonly described as the “White Mutiny.” Owing to European opposition, the original Bill was weakened through a compromise. Under the modified arrangement, a European accused being tried before an Indian judge could demand trial by jury, and at least half of the jurors had to be Europeans. Thus, the proposed judicial equality was not implemented completely.