VEER SAVARKAR AND THE LAW: A JURISPRUDENTIAL INQUIRY
Avni Kritika, Assistant Professor, Impact College of Law, Patna
Email : advavnikritika@gmail.com
Abstract:
This research paper offers a comprehensive jurisprudential inquiry into the legal thought of Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, as reflected through his personal experiences, political activism, and prolific writings during British colonial rule in India. While Savarkar is predominantly remembered for his revolutionary role in the Indian independence movement and as a prominent ideologue of Hindu nationalism, his interactions with law and justice—both as a subject of colonial prosecution and as a reflective thinker—warrant deeper academic attention.
The study critically examines Savarkar’s legal consciousness, particularly how his imprisonment, trial, and petitions under British rule influenced his understanding of law, justice, and state power. These legal encounters are not only historical episodes but also sites of intellectual formation, wherein Savarkar developed nuanced views on natural rights, the legitimacy of state violence, and the moral duties of resistance. His literary works, including My Transportation for Life, serve as foundational texts that reveal his perspective on law as both a repressive mechanism and a site of ideological contestation.
By analyzing Savarkar’s writings alongside key legal events in his life, the paper explores how colonial law was weaponized to suppress dissent while simultaneously catalyzing new forms of legal and political thought among revolutionaries. It also investigates whether Savarkar’s views contributed to a distinctive framework of legal nationalism—one that fused indigenous cultural values with modern legal principles.
This study places Savarkar within the broader framework of colonial jurisprudence and examines the enduring implications of his legal thought on postcolonial India’s legal and constitutional identity. It contributes to the growing body of scholarship on legal resistance under empire and highlights how figures like Savarkar engaged with law not only as passive subjects but as active thinkers in the shaping of legal discourse in South Asia. Top of Form
This research primarily adopts a doctrinal methodology, drawing upon a wide range of books and online sources related to Savarkar.
Keywords: Veer Savarkar, Legal Thought, Colonial Jurisprudence, Political Trials, Independence Movement
DOI link – https://doi.org/10.69758/GIMRJ/25050402V13P0001
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