Throughout history judicial trials have been used for political ends, both by persons in power as well as those who seek power or accountability from wielders of power. Whatever the aim of the state in instituting them, political trials tend to become forums for its opponents and landmarks in the quest truth, freedom, and justice. This book, in which the author combines his well-known legal acumen with extensive archival research, is a study of famous political trials in India chosen for their historical and political significance. This edition includes the trial of Maharaja Nand Kumar, of Aurobindo Ghose, of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1916 when he was defended by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and the Meerut Conspiracy case, along with the other famous trials such as those of Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, the INA leaders, and Sheikh Abdullah covered in the original. Each chapter is full of intriguing details sourced from such documentation as official trial records, memoirs of personalities involved, newspapers reports and books of the times.
