Before 1883, British people in India didn’t have to go to regular Indian courts when they broke the law. For really serious stuff like crimes that could get them killed or sent away, only the higher courts dealt with their cases.
But in 1883, a new law called the Ilbert Bill changed this. It said that from then on, British and European folks would be judged by Indian judges in lower-level courts. This made many European people very mad.
The Ilbert Bill, also known as the Ilbert Bill controversy, was a significant legislative proposal during British colonial rule in India in the late 19th century. The bill was named after Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, the legal member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council in India, who introduced it in 1883. The primary aim of the Ilbert Bill was to reform the existing legal system in British India.
The key background and context of the Ilbert Bill can be summarized as follows:
The Ilbert Bill controversy brought attention to the deep-seated racial prejudices and discrimination inherent in British colonial rule in India. Despite the compromises, the bill marked a step toward legal reforms and equal treatment under the law, although it fell short of achieving complete parity in the legal system.
The Ilbert Bill was introduced by Sir Courtenay Pergine Ilbert, the Law Member of the Viceroy’s Council, on February 9, 1883, during the viceroyalty of the Marquess of Ripon. The bill sought to abolish the judicial disqualification of Indian judges to try European British subjects. This was a major step towards racial equality in India, but it was met with fierce opposition from the European community, who feared that they would no longer be able to receive fair trials in Indian courts.
The Ilbert Bill was eventually passed into law but in a weakened form. It was amended to give European defendants the right to demand a jury trial, with half of the jurors being Europeans. This was a significant compromise, but it was still a major victory for Indian nationalists. The Ilbert Bill controversy had a profound impact on Indian politics. It showed that the British were not willing to grant full equality to Indians, and it helped to galvanize the Indian nationalist movement.
The Ilbert Bill caused unrest within the British community in India and faced strong opposition from British officials who, with hidden sympathies, opposed the idea of granting Indian judges the authority to preside over cases involving Europeans, as they considered Europeans to be superior. This opposition was further echoed by British women, who argued that Bengali women lacked authority over English women due to their perceived lack of knowledge.
In contrast, proponents of the Ilbert Bill among Bengali women challenged this perspective by highlighting that there were more educated Bengali women compared to their English counterparts. They emphasized that Indian women held more college degrees than British women and pointed out that the University of Calcutta had allowed female graduates to pursue degree programs as early as 1878, preceding British universities in this regard.
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Ilbert Bill, in the history of India, a controversial measure proposed in 1883 that sought to allow senior Indian magistrates to preside over cases involving British subjects in India.
The Ilbert Bill was a legislative act introduced in 1883 during the tenure of Viceroy Ripon and written by Sir Courtenay Pergine Ilbert. The act stipulated that Indian judges could try Europeans.
The Ilbert Bill of 1883 was a legislative act introduced during the tenure of Viceroy Ripon. The bill was written by Sir Courtenay Pergine Ilbert.
Viceroy Ripon, who truly wanted to remove racial prejudice from the Indian Penal Code, introduced the bill in 1883.
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