Hindu Administrative Institutions c10.s3.3

c10.s3.3

The *Kauṭalīya*,¹ mentions two kinds of court, the *dharmasthīya* and the *kaṇṭakaśodhana*, which are civil and criminal courts respectively,² as we understand them to-day and which is the most usual division of courts of justice now obtaining in modern states, though by no means a universal division. Usually three ministers of law sat to decide cases in each of these two courts. But the decision of *Kauṭalya* is in no way a cut and dried classification. If we consider the nature of the cases that came under the purview of these two courts there is reason to believe that the latter court had, in addition to being a committee of enquiry to hear cases and prevent crimes, the power to inflict corporal or capital punishment on the offenders. The following is the categorical list of cases that came under the jurisdiction of the *dharmasthīya* court.¹