FIRST
JUDICIAL MURDER BY BRITISH SUPREME COURT IN CALCUTTA.
MAHARAJ NANDA KUMAR HANGED.
SARASIJ MAJUMDER
Maharaja NANDA KUMAR was hanged to death by Britishers of
East India Company, on 5th August, 1775, after a FAKE, BOGUS and
Partisan Judicial Trial in newly established Supreme Court in Calcutta.
But we need to know the details, before we put a seal on our
concluding statement.
In 1773, Regulating
Act was passed by the British Parliament. It was passed for providing
Judicial Governance in the Indian territories militarily, and administratively governed by the British East
India Company, primarily in Bengal.
One of the important requirements of the Act was to
constitute a Supreme Court having four English judges, to be located in FORT WILLIUM,
in the then CALCUTTA. As a result of this Act coming into force, the
Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Kolkata was founded in 1774. A
charter issued by King George III appointed Sir Elijah
Impey as the Chief Justice and Robert Chambers, John Hyde, and Stephen
Caesar Lemaistre, as puisne judges.
It may be stated that this Act, along with the Supreme Court
was the first attempt to establish a somewhat independent judicial institution
in India, under the king’s direct control. But in the era of this Act of 1773,
Raja NANDA KUMAR’s trial, which is also known as the ‘the first judicial murder’
in India under Company’s rule, was a TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE, and one of the many
black spots Britishers have to live with.
A brief
about Raja NANDA KUMAR: -
Raja NANDA KUMAR, also known as Maharajah Nuncomar, was borne
in 1705, at BHADRAPUR village in BIRBHUM. He was a Hindu Brahmin of the highest
rank. He was very intelligent, and studied Arabic, and Farsi—was proficient in
both the languages He was given the title ‘Maharaja’ by Shah Alam II in the
year 1764. He was a big zamindar. He worked for the Nawab of Bengal in a
variety of capacities, mostly as a revenue collector. He was made the Governor
of Hugli under Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah in 1756.
He had earned the confidence of the Murshidabad Durbar. Nand Kumar had participated in the
Battle of Plassey with Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daulah. The Nawabs admired him. After
holding a succession of posts under native governments of Bengal, owing to his
loyalty pledged towards the English, East India Company later, he was awarded
the name “Black Colonel” during Governor General Robert Clive’s period. In
1758, he was even appointed by Lord Robert Clive as an agent to collect
revenues for the districts of Burdwan, Hooghly, and Nadia. He was a very
influential person in Bengal.
But this was the beginning of CONFLICT with Mr. Warren
Hastings. Mr. Clive removed Mr. Hastings, from the same post and appointed Mr. NANDA
KUMAR.
Hastings was seething with rage and was looking for an
opportunity to take revenge.
Mr. Clive left for ENLAND and Mr. Hastings was appointed as
Governor General in 1773.
Raja NANDA Kumar brought several charges against
Governor-General Warren Hastings. The charges were related to the offenses of
bribery and corruption.
Charges
against Hastings, and trial: -
Warren
Hastings was appointed as the Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort
William in Calcutta in 1772, and directors of the Company further limited his
powers by establishing a council of four members who had similar authority as
he did. The four council members were Clavering, Francis, Monson, and Barnwell.
Out of the four, the first three were against the governor-general and only Barnwell
was in his favour.
NANDA
KUMAR was sidelined when the seat of administration shifted from Murshidabad to
Calcutta and the task of actual governance went in the hands of the British
officials of the company. The council members except Barnwell instigated that NANDA
KUMAR to accuse Hastings of bribery and corruption before the Council. Thus,
when Mr. Francis arrived in the city, NANDA KUMAR presented a letter to him listing
the Munni Begam case- it was stated that Hastings had accepted a bribe of Rs.
2.5 lakhs from Munni Begam to appoint her as the guardian of the minor Nawab
Mubarak-Ud-Daulah. He also stated that Hastings
had accepted bribery of more than 1 lakh from him to appoint Gurudas, his son,
as Diwan.
After
Francis presented the letter at the council meeting, Monson moved a motion for NANDA
KUMAR to appear before the council meeting. Warren Hastings was presiding over
the council at that time and opposed the move. Mr. Barnwell suggested that NANDA
Kumar should file his complaints before the Supreme Court and not before the
council as according to him, the Court was competent to hear this case. The
majority members objected to the action and then elected Clavering to preside
over the meeting instead of Hastings.
When
NANDA KUMAR was called before the council to prove his charges against
Hastings, the majority of the council declared that the charges against Hastings
were right. As a result of this, Hastings was directed to deposit the amount of
Rs 3,54,105/- in the company’s treasury. This event was the MAIN REASON that
made Hastings a bitter enemy of NANDA KUMAR and now he looked for an
opportunity to take revenge.
Charges
against Maharaj NANDA KUMAR: -
At the
instance of Warren Hastings and his favourite council member Barnwell, Raja NANDA
KUMAR, Fawkes, and Radha Charan charged for criminal conspiracy against East
India Company, and all the three were arrested for prosecution at Supreme
Court.
Hastings
further thought that it may not be possible to prove the conspiracy, so he
brought another charge against NANDA KUMAR-- in furtherance
he demanded Mohan Prasad to file a case of forgery against NANDA KUMAR-- in
connection to a deed or bond which was executed by Raja NANDA KUMAR in 1765 and
was claimed as an acclamation and ratification of a debt from a banker, Bulaki
Das.
According
to The English Act of 1729, Forgery Was a Capital Offense, and calls for
Capital Punishment, if proved.
The
judgment was reserved for NANDA KUMAR whereas Fawkes was fined. I don’t know
what was the decision against Radha Charan--- going through the documents at
Victoria Memorial, and National Library at Kolkata—I found no information.
THE
TRIAL: --
The
trial against Raja NANDA KUMAR for forgery and conspiracy ran concurrently, starting from 8th June morning, continuously, every day, and
ending at the midnight of 15th June 1775.
The Judgement:
-
The
matter was summarized on the morning of 16th June 1775 by Chief Justice Impey.
Raja NANDA Kumar was held unanimously “guilty” by judges and the jury also gave
the same verdict. He was incarcerated to death by the Chief Justice under the
English Act of 1729 of the British Parliament. The then Hon’ble Supreme Court
dismissed the ‘conspiracy case’ as they did not have any evidence against Raja NANDA
Kumar.
Attempts
made to save Maharaj: -
- Raja NANDA Kumar’s
advocate forwarded an appeal to the King-in-Council. He also filed a
petition in the court for holding the verdict till the time the Council’s
decision was not established but it was rejected by the court.
- Efforts to seek the aid
and support of the members of COUNCIL was rebuffed.
- The letter of
suggestion from the Nawab to the Council to defer the sentence till His
Majesty’s pleasure was known proved to be nugatory as well because the
Supreme Court took no cognizant undertaking on it after it was delivered
by the Council.
EXECUTION: -
Therefore, MAHARAJ NANDA KUMAR was hanged on
August 5, 1775, at 8 o’clock in the morning at the Cooly Market near Fort
William and close to the modern Hastings Bridge.
NANDA
KUMAR expressed his desire to die near Adi Ganga so that the final rites can be
performed at its ghats because of which the well was dug up ostensibly for his
hanging. At the time of execution, the seventy-year-old prisoner’s hands were
tied and he walked with difficulty on the stairs due to weakness in his knees.
The quoted
words by
Bar and Bench: “Nand Kumar’s trial was a manifestation of this diabolical
cocktail of connivance between the then executive and the judiciary,” clearly
reflect the state of our country during the pre-independence period particularly
concerning the case of the judicial murder of Raja Nand Kumar.
Legal Flaws:
-
1.0 Chief Justice Impey being a
close friend of Warren Hastings, and there was conflict of interest,
2.0 judges cross-examining the
witnesses themselves,
3.0 the petition presented to
the King’s council being rejected by the Supreme Court,
4.0 The fact that even after
forgery not being considered as a crime by neither Hindus nor Muslims, as per
the legal practice of Country—INDIA, and,
5.0 Deed was executed in 1765,
but the Supreme Court was constituted in 1773—hence Supreme Court had no
Jurisdiction over the Forgery case happened in the past.
Reaction of
the native people: -
The hanging of the Brahmin is believed to have caused
“horror” and “consternation” among the gathering natives. Many Hindus were
appalled and bathed in the holy Ganges to wash away the sin of seeing the
event. Several Brahmins households even protested the hanging and left
Calcutta.
Trial Of Hastings, and Impey in London: -
The trial of Raja Nand Kumar is historically significant
because it was a primary ground for the impeachment of Chief Justice Impey and
Governor-General Warren Hastings by the House of Commons after they returned to
England. Despite being chastised by famous statesmen Edmund Burke and Lord Macaulay,
Hastings was cleared of all accusations after 19 years. Impey was absolved before.
At the present time, Victoria Memorial authorities are
putting Nand Kumar’s turban on display.
References
and further reading: -
- The London Gazette. – BRITISH LIBRARY
- James Fitz & James
Stephen, The Story of Nuncomar and the Impeachment of Sir Elijah
Impey (1885). --- Available in National Library.
- Legal service in India--article-4665
- Hicky's Bengal Gazette. —National Library, Kolkata
- Archives of Victoria Museum—Kolkata
- The Trial of Maharaja Nanda Kumar, a Narrative of a
Judicial Murder.... Author, Henry Beveridge. Publisher, Thacker, Spink and
Company, 1886.
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