Kanoon

Kanoon () is a 1960 Indian Hindi-language film directed by B. R. Chopra. The film stars Rajendra Kumar, Nanda, Ashok Kumar, Mehmood, Shashikala, Jeevan and Om Prakash. The film presents a case against capital punishment, arguing that witnesses may be genuinely deceived, and their consequent inadvertently tendered false testimony may lead someone wrongly to the gallows.
The film was a courtroom drama of a murder case, where the judge's prospective son-in-law (Rajendra Kumar) is the defence lawyer in a case of murder, for which he suspects his would-be father-in-law. The film was India's second songless talkie. The first one was "Andha Naal", a Tamil movie.
The movie features an innovative Indo-Western ballet performance with instrumental music by Salil Choudhury.
Plot synopsis.
Kalidas (Jeevan) is presented before court for the murder of Ganpat. He pleads guilty, but claims that the court can do him no harm, as he has already served a sentence for the murder of the same man. An emotionally overcharged Kalidas asks judge Badri Prasad (Ashok Kumar) what gives law the right to deprive an innocent man of something it cannot return him, before collapsing and dying.
The shocking incident makes its way to the press and becomes a matter of hot debate in the city. Two judges, Mr. Jha and Mr. Savalkar (Iftekhar in a guest appearance), discuss the case. Badri Prasad, who is well known for never having awarded a death sentence, has a friendly argument with Jha, which leads to a wager that it is possible for someone to get away scot-free with murder.
In the meanwhile, romance is blossoming between Badri Prasad's daughter Meena (Nanda) and advocate Kailash Khanna (Rajendra Kumar), one of the rising stars in the legal fraternity and Badri Prasad's protégé. The young couple's visit to a ballet is rather unremarkable, except for the surreptitious appearance of Ashok Kumar, who is seen by the viewer romancing an unknown lady (Shashikala) in a private box. Incidentally, the murdered man Ganpat is her husband. She married a rich man during her first husband's (Ganpat) lifetime, and inherited his property. This was an illegal marriage, and Dhaniram was blackmailing her, as he was privy to this information.
Badri Prasad's son Vijay (Mehmood) is heavily indebted to Dhaniram (Om Prakash) a local money lender who, having obtained the former's signature on a blank piece of paper, threatens to have his entire property confiscated. Afraid to face his stern father with the truth, Vijay pleads with Kailash to intercede with the money lender. The later agrees to do so, despite initial reluctance.
Kailash drops in at the money lender's place to have a word with him. Their exchange is interrupted by the arrival of Badri Prasad's look-alike. Kailash does not want to be seen with Dhaniram, so he hides in a sideroom, instructing Dhaniram not to disclose to the judge that he had come there.
Dhaniram receives the unexpected guest through an already open door. Kailash watches in horror from the inner room, as the unscheduled visitor (Ashok Kumar) stabs his host to death. Unsure of what to do, Kailash walks away. Unfortunately, a petty thief, Kaalia (Nana Palsikar), who comes in with the intention of burglary, is apprehended at the scene of the crime and presented in Badri Prasad's court. He is shown being caught by Sub-Inspector Das (Jagdish Raj) and Hawaldar Ram Singh. Kaalia's hands are completely drenched in blood.
Torn between his loyalty to his mentor and future father-in-law, on the one hand, and his moral duty to save an innocent man, on the other, Kailash resolves to defend the accused, while at the same time, avoiding bringing out in public the painful truth. What ensues is an absorbing psychological thriller with an unexpected end.
Murder and the Forensics.
There are interesting forensic details to be noted in the murder. The Badri Prasad look-alike who commits the murder comes from the main door, stabs Dhaniram in the stomach, switches off the light and goes back quietly through the same door.
Much later, Kaalia, a petty thief, ascends to the first floor residence of Dhaniram, via a pipe and then through the open window. The lights are off. His steps fall on spilt milk. The milk got spilt by a black cat, which jumped on the glass of milk. After the murder, when Kailash Khanna comes out from the adjoining room and is trying to contemplate what happened and why, a cat is shown running around. In fact, this alerts Kailash to run away from the scene himself).
Public Prosecutor Kailash Khanna enters Dhaniram's house exactly at 11.00 pm on 30 June. This is proved by two points. (1) When Meena asks Kailash to go to Dhaniram's house to collect the incriminating paper from him, Kailash informs her that he had to attend the Bar Association's dinner that day. So he would not be free before 10.30 or perhaps 11.00 pm. (2) Later, when he is shown walking towards Dhanirams' house, a clock in the background can be heard chiming. One can easily count 11 chimes from the moment Kailash is walking towards Dhaniram's house, till Dhaniram opens the door (chiming stops after that). So the action starts at 11.00 pm.
The police surgeon's (Forensic expert's) report says that Dhaniram died between 11.30 pm and 12.00 midnight (on the night of 30th).
Kaalia is caught descending the pipe hurriedly at 00.08 am on 1 July.
Weaknesses in Defence reasoning.
The defence represented by Kailash Khanna too has several fatal weaknesses, although these were never brought to the notice of the court by the prosecution side. Here are some: