State and Government in Ancient India c16.125

c16.125

Let us now pass on to consider the organisation of the Judicial Department. King was the fountain source of justice and was expected to decide all cases brought before him either at the first instance or in appeals. He often discharged this duty himself, but when he was too busy to attend to it, the Chief Justice (*prāḍvivāka*) deputised for him. The state policy, however, was to encourage decentralisation in the department; the village *pañchāyats* and town councils were not only encouraged but required to try and decide all local civil cases. Complainants were not permitted to file their suits at the first instance in the official courts. This naturally reduced the volume of the work of government courts. It is therefore but natural that the royal courts should figure rather rarely in inscriptions. Government courts also existed in important towns and citites and are referred to both by Nārada and Bṛihaspati.¹ They were known as *dharmāsanādhikaraṇas*² in the Gupta administration and were situated in big towns only. Presiding judges were called *dharmādhyakshas* or *nyāyakaraṇikas*.³ Whether the *dharmalekhins*, who figure in some Chandella records,⁴ were judges or pleaders who wrote the complaints, it is difficult to say.