JUDICIAL SYSTEMS IN

ANCIENT INDIA

Judicial institutions
No clear reference to the existence of judicial
organization in the Vedic period.
Village elders acted as judges and punishment
was awarded according to the nature of the
offence, in accordance with local usages and
customs.
The king was

the fountainhead of law, and

dispensed with justice.

The growing and settled order of society made

it impossible for the king carry out all function
of judiciary
The administration of justice was entrusted to
the hands of the experts
Kings court was reserved for appeals and severe
crimes against the state, the rest of the
litigations being entrusted to various other
courts

Judges
A group of six member of the Sabha also
acted as judges in Vedic society

Kautilya advises the king to establish a

court with a bench of three magistrates
for every ten villages, with higher courts
in the district and provinces

Manu also suggested a bench composed of the

Pradvivaka and three other judges.

According to Sudrakas Mruchchakatika judges
consisted of

Adhikarnika (chief justice)

Sresthin (a wealthy merchant)
Kayastha (a representative of the particular
folder)
Highest court kings court

Types of courts
In the Vedic times, the Sabha, which assumed
the character of National judicature, exercised
judicial functions as well
The meeting of the assembly for justice may
have been more frequent than for general
discussion and decision
A standing committee(6 members) of the Sabha
might have permitted these functions

The thieves and criminal were dragged before

the Sabha, and the most influential men had
to

submit

to

the

decision

of

their

peer

assembled here.
The Dharmasutras evidence to the continuance
of the judicial character of the Sabha even to
later times

Kautilya mentions two types of courts

*Civil court (Dharmasteya)
*dealt with disputes involving
*Contracts
*inheritance
*labour
*marriages
*dowry
*deposits
*benefit

Criminal court: Kantakasodhana

1.Protection

of artisans and merchants

2.detecting

criminals by means of spies

3.Arresting

the suspicious or real culprits

4.Post-mortem
5.Discipline

in various state departments

6.Punishment
7.Capital

examinations

for mutilation

punishment

8.Miscellaneous

offences

Kantakasodhana

was in the nature of the

doctrine of police power

To

remove all such impediments which

were injuries to the peaceful enjoyment

of rights of the people.

To

root out all such anti-social elements

which acted against the established social

order.

 There

was no provision for the arrest of the

persons three days after a crime had been

committed.

The

aged,

the

diseased,

the

mad,

those

suffering from hunger, those who confessed

their guilt, physically unfit, and the pregnant
women

were

persecution

generally

exempted

from

Courts of the Guilds

*The guilds had their own rules and regulation
called the srenidharma
*The Guild had judicial rights over its
jurisdiction.
*The guilds were not allowed to exercise their
powers like autocrats because ultimately they
were responsible to the state.
Village courts
Village panchayats: grama vruddgas
Chief of the village advised by six councilors

Court Procedures

Plaintiff
A

plaintiff

first

filed

plaint

before

the

registration officer (Lekhaka) with sufficient

information.

When the judge found that matter was legally

acceptable, he delivered a sealed order to the
defendant.

Suits between teacher and student, husband

and wife and master and servant should not be
entrained
(Manu) In case of more than one complaint at
the same time, preference must be given on
the basis of the varna of the plaintiff
(Katyayana) Priority should be given to a plait
where the injury was greater or cause more
important requiring immediate attention.

Defendant

*The

legally maintainable plaint was read and

recorded in the presence of the defendant

*Then

the defendant was asked by the judge to

file his reply as early as possible

*Defendant

had to give immediate reply in

urgent and important cases.

*Adjournment
or more.

ranged from one day to one year

*Katyayana
to

avoid

does not favour adjournment,

complication

and

normal

of

course of judicial procedure.

*The

defendants reply was require to

meet the points raised in the plaint

without deviating from truth and without
any confusion

The ordinary procedure in trails was by

evidence, while in extraordinary cases recourse
was taken to divine evidence.
There are instances of circumstantial evidence,
particularly in the absence of human evidence,
being considered in the trial of cases
The trial involved the examination of documents,
possession and evidence tendered by the
witness were discussed meticulously

The trial:
The trail of the case began with the
submission of the reply, in writing, by
the defendant.
Depending on the decision of the judge
they should submit their proofs.

According to smiti writers at least three

witnesses before the king and Brahmans
Justice given according to law and in
consonance

with

the

accepted

social

norms and every point in the case was

subjected to close scrutiny

Mode of proof divided into two classes

Human: documents, possession and witness

(sakshi)

Divine: divine proof consisted of ordeals

Ordeals were restored to only when ordinary

method of proof was not possible