Hindu Period: Ancient Judicial System:

A well organized system of laws and Courts were existed for the administration of
civil, criminal and revenue justice During the Hindu Period which extends for
nearly 1500 years betore and after the beginning of the Christian era.

Ancient judicial system is well known for civil ,crimainal, and revenue justice

. Many important beliefs and doctrines of today are deep rooted in the ancient
Hindu ideology. The ancient judicial system can be understood properly by
considering briefly three important factors:

I. .The social institutions in ancient India.

II. Political system of ancient India.
III. Religion and religious philosophy of ancient India.

1.The Social institutions in ancient India:

In determining the social institutions two important concepts may be stated:

1. Caste System.

2. Joint Family System.

Caste System:

A caste was a social group consisting solely of persons born in known as a

rigid and unique social systems consisting of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Baisyas
and Sudras. Among them Brahmins are the most superior caste whose are
scholars and priests, Kshatriyas were the nobles and warriors , Baisyas were
the merchants and traders and last one is Sudras the lowest workers of socity.

The caste was determined by birth and their status, living, marriage,
profession and social obligations determined by their pattem .It became
absolute and reached highest point in caste panchayat.

joint Family System:

A joint family was considered as a unit of the Hindu social system and become
an administrative unit also by constituted a gram (village) which determined
the social order and bonding like as Sraddha ceremony. The patriarch
(father) was the head of the family, whose authority was absolute over the
members. He represented all the members of his family before the law and
claimed absolute obedience from them. Tow of family law Mitakshara and
Dayabhaga became the basis of Civil law. They dealt also property rights .

2. Political System of Ancient India:

Ancient Indian political system divided into various independent states called
monarchies and tribal republic. They follows two important concept of
political system Dharma and Saptanga (seven limbs)

Among them Dharma was the important political thought. Once privileges,
duties, standard of conduct for a community (Aryan), as a caste person in a
particular stage even the King himself was also subject to law.

Another important concept of state was saptanga theory namely The King,
the Minister, the Country, the Fortified city, the Treasury the Army and the
Aly among them the king were most superior and rest six were subordinate
and obedient . described at Arthssastra by political thinker Kautilya .

3.Religion and religious philosophy of ancient India:

The Hindu Religion and philosophy laid down four great aims of Human life,
namely: 1. Dharma (religion and social law). 2. Artha (wealth and economic
well-being). 3. Karma (doing work) 4. Moksha (salvation of the soul). The
correct balance of first three was to lead to the fourth. These concepts played
a very important role in lndian thought.

Ancient Kingdoms: Administrative Units

In order to understand thc ancient Judicial system it 1s necessary to have a short
account of the administrative divisions

 Various independent States existed in ancient India and king was the head of
and supreme authority in each case.
 The King was assisted by his chief priest (Purohita) and military
commander.
 Each state was divided into provinces and these into divisions prevailing in
the aneient States.. military commander (Senani). and districts. In
teminology they were difterent and in area also.
 Separate governors, according to their status were apponted with different
designations for each province or district by the King and in some places
their appointment was hereditary.
 There were Cities at the meeting place of districts known as Janapada-
Sandhishu. The city was administered bya separate governor namely
Nagaraka/Purapala (like Mayor of the City Corporatton).
 Apart from cities there werea large number of villages all over India. In fact
the village was the unit of government. Each Village consisted ofa village
headman and village council or Village pan chayat.They assisted the district
authorities in controlling the village administration and the office of the
village headman was mostly hereditary.
 According to Kautilya's Arthasastra, the realm was divided into four
administrative units called:
1. Sthaniya (1.e. a fortress established in the centre of 800 villages;
2. Dronmukha (i.e. a fortress established in the centre of 400 villages; 200
villages; and of 10 villages.
3. Kharvatik (i.e. a fortress established in the centre of 2oovillage
4. Sangrahana (i.e. a fortress established in the centre of 10 village

Law Courts were established to decide disputes between citizens in each of

these places and at the mecting places of districts (Janapada-Sandhishu).

Administration of Justice :
The essential features of judicial system of Hindu Period were as follows:

A. Administration of Justice: Organization of Court Structure There were

following types of courts during Hindu Period.
1. The King's Court.
2. The Chief Justice's Court
3. Special tribunal.
4. Town or District Court.
5. Village Court.
6. Arbitration Council.
7. Family Courts.

1. The King's Court:

The King's Court was the highest court of appeal in the State. it had
original jurisdiction in cases of Vital importance to the state.

In this Court, learned Brahmins, the Chicf Justice and other judges,
ministers, elders and representatives of the trading community in
administering justice advised the King

2. The Chief Justice's Court:

It consisted of the Chief Justice and a board of judges to assist the Chief
Justice.
All the judges in the board belonged to three upper castes (Brahmins,
Khastriya, Baisya) preferably Brahmins.
3. Special tribunal:
Sometimes separate tribunals with specified territorial jurisdiction used to
be formed among judges who were members of the board of the Chief
Justice's Court.
The tribunals were, a) stationary, b) movable courts held under the royal
signet in the absence of the King and c) Commissions under the King's
présidency.
4. Town or District Court:
There were town or district courts administered by the governors or
Nagaraka under the authority of the King.
5. Village Court:
The local village councils or kulani, similar to modem panchayals, was
constituted at village level.
The Council consisted of a board of five or more members for
administration of justice to villagers.
The council dealt with petty civil and criminal cases.
6. Arbitration Council:
 here were tribunals consisting of a president and three or five co-
adjudicators
The tribunals or councils dealt with the disputes amongst members of
various guilds or associations of traders or artisans (Sreni), various
corporations, and trade guilds.
7. Family Courts:
Family Courts were also established due to the prevailing institution of
the joint family system.
To decide civil disputes amongst family members Puga assemblies made
up of groups of families in the same village.

Each lower Court showed full respect to the decision of cach higher
court. According to Brihaspati, "First come the family arbitrators; the
judges are superior to the families; the Chief Justice (Adhyaksha) is
superior to the judges; the King is superior to all of them and his decision
becomes law.

B. Judicial Procedure:
Judicial Procedure was very elaborate during ancient Hindu period.
Judicial procedure which prevailed during Hindu Period was as follows:
1. Stages of a Suit.
2. Bench of Judges'.
3. Appointment of Judges and Judicial Standard.
4. Doctrine of Precedent.
5. Evidence.
6. Witnesses.

1. Stages of a Suit: According to Brihaspati a suit or trial consisted of

four parts:
a.the plaint
b. the reply
c. The trial and investigation of dispute by the Court(Kriya), and
d. The Verdict or decision (Nirnaya)

2. Bench of Judges':
It was a cardinal rule of the administration of justice inancient India
that, justice should not be administered byya
single judge

Generally a bench of two or more judges would administer justice

even the King decided cases in his council.

3. Appointment of Judges and Judicial Standard:

In the appointment of the Chief Justice and other judges the

question of caste consideration played vital role. The chief
Justice was mandatorily appointed from Brahımins. A Sudra was
forbidden to be appointed as a judge.

Appointments were made from among the persons whowere highly

qualified and learmed in law.

Women were not allowed to hold the office of a judge.

Judges were required to take the oath of impartiality when
deciding disputes between citizens.

4. Doctrine of Precedent:

The decisions of the King's court were binding on all lower courts.

The principles of law declared by higher courts were taken into

consideration by the lower courts while deciding cases

5.Evidence:

During the course of proceedings both the partiesrequired to prove

their case by producing evider Ordinarily, cvidence was based on any
or all the three sources namely, documents, witnesses, and the
possession in criminating objects.
In criminal cases, sometimes circunstantal evidence was sufficient to
punish the criminal or acquit him.

6. Witnesses:

In civil cases, the social status and qualification of the Witness was
always enquired into by the court.

Witnesses were required to take an oath before the court

False witnesses were severely fined by the couts. Naruda says that,
they were condemned to go to a horrible bell and
stay there for a Kalpa.

C. Trial by Ordeal:

Trial by ordeal was a method to determine the guilt of a person Trial

by ordeal was considered as a valid method of proof by the ancient
Indian society.

Trial by ordeal when applied:

Agni Purana prescribes a detailed account of ordeals as they existed in

ancient India. It points out that only in cases of high treason or very
serious offences the trial by ordeal was applied. In other pety matters,
it was sufficient to prove the truth by taking an oath. Smriti writers
suggested that, trial by ordeal was applied to cases where any concrete
evidence on either side was not available.

Types of Ordeal:

Some important types of ordeal, which were commonly adopted, may

be stated as follows:
1. Ordeal Of Balance (Dhata): in ordeal of balance, the accused was
made to sit in a balance and weighed. He was then made to pray to
God. If his part of balance was lowered after prayer he was
deemcd guilty.
2. Ordeal of Fire (Agni): According to the Hindu Myth, fire is
considered to be God and it has purifying qualities According to
the ordeal fire accused was made to walk through fire. Ifhe
suffered no harm, he was held innocent. There is a reference to this
ordeal in the Ramayana where Sita had to prove chastity of her
captivity by Ravana by walking through fire. Sita suffered no harm
by the fire God.
3. Ordeal of Water (Kosa) Water seen as a sign of purity under the
Hindu mythology was used to test the guilt of the accused. " In
ordeal of water the accused was required to drink water used in
bathing the idol. If he had no harmful effect within the next 14
days hc was considered to be innocent.
4. Ordeal of Poison (Bisa): In ordeal of poison, the accused was
required to drink poison. Ifhe survived he was held innocent.
5. Ordeal of Lot: In ordeal of lot he was required to draw from two
lots i.e. Right (Dharma) and Wrong (Adharma). If he drew the lot
of Dharma, he was held innocent.
6. Ordeal of Rice-Grains: In ordeal of Rice-Grains, the accused was
required to chew unhusked rice and then asked to spit out. If blood
appeared in his mouth, he was considered to be guilty, otherwise
not.
7. Ordeal of Fountain-cheese In ordeal of fountain-cheese, the
accused was to drink some special type of water. If he becomes
delirious and confess his misdeeds he was held guilty.

D. Trial by Jury
The jury system existed in ancient India but not in the sanme form
as we understand the term now. There is evidence that the
community members used to assist the administration of justice.
They were merely examiners of the cause of conflict and placed
true facts before the judge though the verdiet was declared by the
presiding judge and not by the jury.
E. Institution of Lawyers
Smritis do not refer to the existence of any separate institution of
lawyers in the ancient Hindu judicial system. The organization of
the lawyers as it exists today was not in existence in the ancient
Hindu period.

F. Crimes and Punishments

In ancient Hindu period, punishment was considered to be a sort of
expiation which removed impurities from the offender and
reformed his character.
According to Manu, men who are guilty of crimes and have been
punished by the King will go to heaven, becoming pure like those
who perform meritorious deeds.
Purposes of Punishments: There were following four main
purposes of punishments
1. to meet the urge of the person who suffered,
2. to take revenge or retaliation;
3. to adopt deterrent and preventive measures; and
4. to refom and release the evil-doer.

Methods/types of Punishment: Manu, Jajnavalkya and Brihaspati

state that there were four methods of punishment, namely.
1. by gentle admonition,
2. by severe reproof,
3. by fine, and
4. by corporal punishment.
These punishments may be inflieted separately or together
according to the nature of offence

Grounds/factors which were taken into consideration by the

Judges before awarding punishments: According to Kautilya,
before awarding punishments, following factors must be taken into
consideration by the Judges:
motive and nature of the offence,
time and place of the offence,
strength, age, conduct (or duties) of the offender,
learning and monetary position of the offender and
the fact whether the offence is repeating one.

The Dandaviveka quotes following factors must be taken tnto

consideration:
the offender's caste,
the value of the thing,
the extent or the measure, use or usefulness of the thing with
regard to which an oftence is committed,
the person against whom a offence is committed such as an idol or
temple or King or Brahmin,
age, ability (to pay) of the offender,
time, place, nature of the offence whether it was repeated or was
first offence

Exemption from Punishment:

Certain classes of person were exempted from punishment under
the ancient criminal law in India. These were as follows

An old man over 80 years.

A boy below 16 years.
women and peTSOns sutfering trom discase are to be given half
Prayaschitta and Sankha.
A child less than 5 ycars was considered to be immune from
committing any crime and theretore was not liable to be punished.

As a general rule a Brahmin offender was exempted from death or

corporal punishment

Rules of Punishment for offences:

Under the ancient criminal law.-
Offenders were required to pay fine as well as to undergo corporal
punishment for their offences
In certain cases, the court was empowered to grant compensation
to the aggrieved party in addition to the punishment given to the
offender.
Punishment for Certain offences:
Punishments, which were awarded for.certain offences like theft,
adultery and rape, detamation or contempt and murder were as
follows:
1. Punishment for thefts:
On a large scale serious thefts were punished with death.

In certain cases the whole village was held responsible for theft
or lost property. The villagers were held liable to make
restitution of lost property if they were unable to prove that the
lost property was taken away from their village.

The King or his local representative was held liable to pay for
the missing property or thett as they were responsibie for
policies and maintaining law and order.

2. Punishment for adultery and rape:

In aduftery and rape, punishment was awarded on the basis of
the caste constderations of the offender and of the woman.

Yajnavalkya prescribes amercement (fine).

3. Punishment for abuse or contempt:

In abuse or contempt case every care was taken to see that cach
higher caste got due respect from persons ot lower caste.

A Kshatriya abusing or defaming a Brahmin was to be

punished with 100 panas (copper coin) and a Vaisya abusing or
defaming a Brahmin was to be punished with 150 panas.
 A Sudra abusing or defaming a Brahmin was to be punished
was punished by corporal punishment (cutting o the tongue).

A Brahmin defaming a Kshatriya was to be fined with 50

panas and a Brahmin defaming Vaisya was to be fined with 25
or 12 panas.
4. Punishment for Murder:
Early sutra prescribes that the murderer should pay fine
according to the caste of the person.
The Arthasastra prescribes death penalty for the murder even it
it occurred in quarrel or duel.
Form of Capital Punishment: Capital punishment was given in
varied form namely, roasting alive, drowning, trampling by
elephants, devouring by dogs, cutting 1nto picces, Impalement
ete.