Hindu Administrative Institutions c10.s6.82

c10.s6.82

We had occasion to mention that lawyers were appointed to argue civil cases.¹ According to Śukrāchārya there were no lawyers employed for criminal cases.² They were tried before the jury and the evidence was furnished by the parties themselves along with their witnesses. Did the court fix any fees for the lawyers appearing for any parties? Though this question does not find an answer in any of the legal texts to our knowledge, yet the author of the Śukranītisāra, a practical politician, has answered this point also.³ There were different rates of fees: 1/10; 1/20; 1/40; 1/60; 1/80 of the value of the interests involved in the court. It would appear that small cases got only small remuneration while important cases got a higher remuneration. It is then manifest that the institution of professional lawyers had come into being at least at the time of Śukrāchārya whose date we could not, however, fix with any certainty.