State and Government in Ancient India c13.92

c13.92

Generally speaking the Executive was under the complete control of the Central Assembly in the republican states. Śrī Kṛishṇa, who was the President of the Andhaka-Vṛishṇi state, bitterly complains to Nārada that he is not the master but the slave of the Central Assembly, as he has to listen patiently to the bitter criticisms of the different parties.³ The *Arthaśāstra* (Bk. XI) shows that if the President of the *Saṁgha* (*Saṁghamukhya*) or the members of the Executive Council were guilty of the mismanagement of the public funds or violating the ordinary laws of the land, they could be dismissed and punished by the state tribunals. The Executive was thus under the complete constitutional control of the Central Assembly. Though there is no specific evidence on the point, it is almost certain that the appointments to the state services and the governorships of the provinces must have been made by the Central Assembly. That must have been one of the reasons for the keen contest for power that was often going on in that body.