The Case for Juries

How is the judge-centered legal system working in India today? The detention of Umar Khalid, an activist who protested the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, has gone on for more than 5 years, an experience consistent with the tremendous backlog of the system. What would happen if he had to have his case heard before a jury? This thought experiment of the jury trial in India is paired with a discussion of the legal system in Argentina where jury trials have recently been introduced in the most serious cases.

Further reading

• Liang, Lawrence. Objection, M’Lord: Cinematic Justice in Popular Hindi Films. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2027.
• Sekhri, Abhinav. “Free Speech & Its Restraints: Why A Professor—Or Anyone Else—Can Be Arrested For Expressing An Opinion.” Article 14, May 20, 2025.article-14.com ↗
• Suresh, Mayur. Terror Trials: Life and Law in Delhi’s Courts. New York: Fordham University Press, 2023.academic.oup.com ↗
• Jaffe, James. The Panchayat in Modern India: Documents and Cases since 1800. Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan, 2025.orientblackswan.com ↗