Maharaj Libel Case

The Maharaj Libel Case is a famous case that was tried in the Bombay (then just in transition from a Supreme Court to a High Court) Court in 1862. The case arose when the plaintiff, Jadunathji Brijratanji "Maharaj", a religious leader, filed a case of libel against a reformer and journalist Karsandas Mulji for writing an article in the newspaper titled "The Primitive Religion of the Hindus and the Present Heterodox Opinions". In this article he questioned the values of a Hindu sect called the Pushtimarg or Vallabhacharya sampradaya and this was claimed to be libelous by the plaintiff. In particular were accusations that Jadunathji had sexual liaisons with women followers and that men were expected to show their devotion by offering their wives for sex with the religious leaders. The case was followed with great interest by the press and thousands of the general public attended the case in court. In the course of the case, the sect's philosophies were examined and compared with other Hindu texts by missionary orientalist scholars like John Wilson. Doctors, including Bhau Daji, testified to having treated the religious leader for syphilis and several witnesses recounted his erotic escapades. Max Weber examined the cult and noted that their path to salvation was based on sexual orgies. The case went in favour of the journalist and Judge Joseph Arnould pronounced that he was only doing his duty as a journalist of exposing the misdeeds of the religious leader. In his own words - "a public journalist is a public teacher: the true function of the press, that by virtue of which it has rightly grown to be one of the great powers of the modern world—is the function of teaching, elevating and enlightening those who fall within the range of its influence."

A related case was the Bhatia Conspiracy case which arose when Gokuldas Liladhar and eight others were accused of intimidating and preventing witnesses from providing evidence against Jadunathji.

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