Hindu Administrative Institutions c10.s6.68

c10.s6.68

The eighteen kinds of litigation are debts, trusts, co-operative enterprises (*sambhūyasamuthāna*), withdrawal of gifts (दत्ताप्रदानिक), contract, wage Were suits admitted and enquired indiscriminately? Was there any order of precedence in the procedure? Was there any time fixed for posting the cases? These interesting questions are answered well by Sukrāchārya. According to this political theorist there were postings only in respect of civil cases.¹ On these appointed days the plaintiff as well as the defendant could appear in the court and argue, by means of their lawyers, the causes of their contention. As has been already said this is only for civil cases. There was no restriction of time for criminal cases such as murder, sedition, theft or assault. The cases can be presented at any part of the day and there must be no delay in examining them.² In illustration of this we can again quote the Mṛchchakaṭi where Saṁsthānaka, the king's brother-in-law, proffers a plaint against Chārudatta accusing the latter with the murder of a courtesan lady Vasantasena.