Previous Year Question

Raja Ram Mohan Roy strongly opposed the Jury Act of 1826.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was not confined only to religious and social reform. He also actively opposed colonial policies concerning civil rights, freedom of the press and equality before the judicial system.

The question describes it as the Jury Act of 1826. Historical records show that the new Jury Act came into operation at the beginning of 1827, which is why several institutional accounts also refer to it as the Jury Act of 1827. Both references concern the same controversial jury arrangement.

The law created a problem of religious discrimination within the judicial system. Hindu and Muslim Indians did not enjoy equal jury rights in cases involving Christians, while Indians could be tried by Christian jurors. Ram Mohan Roy regarded this as contrary to the principles of justice and equality.

He played an active role in preparing and forwarding petitions to both Houses of the British Parliament against this arrangement. These petitions were signed by both Hindus and Muslims, showing that the protest was not merely the grievance of one religious community but a broader issue of judicial equality.

This role can be understood within Ram Mohan Roy's broader approach to civil liberties. He had earlier opposed the Press Ordinance of 1823 and, in protest against restrictive press regulations, discontinued publication of his Persian newspaper Mirat-ul-Akhbar.

In his view, modern government required laws to operate equally across communities and judicial rights should not be differentiated on the basis of religion. His opposition to the Jury Act therefore reflected concerns extending beyond social reform into political and civil rights.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was principally associated with widow remarriage and educational reform, Mahadev Govind Ranade with social, religious and economic reform, and Rajnarayan Basu with the social-intellectual movements of Bengal. The principal figure associated with organised opposition to this particular Jury Act was Raja Ram Mohan Roy.