Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c10.17

c10.17

The appointment of intelligent persons in the place of the king for the examination of the law-suits is recommended also in the Mah. 12, 69, 27. The ninth act of the Mṛcch., called the law-suit (Vyavahāra), describes the judicial proceedings held by one of the chief judges (Adhikaraṇika) of the king in his capital. The constitution of the court is here essentially the same as in the royal courts of the Smṛtis (§45), even the terminology is in agreement with the Smṛtis. The college of judges (adhikaraṇika, niyukta, adhikṛta, draṣṭṛ) assemble in the court hall (adhikaraṇa-maṇḍapa, adhikaraṇa, likewise Vi. 7, 3) which seems to have formed a part of the royal palace. Also the expression rājakaraṇam¹ in the first monologue of Cārudatta seems to refer to the court assembly and the following are mentioned as members of it (144, 12 ed. Stenzler) : the minister (mantrin) absorbed in deep meditation, the messengers (dūta) hurrying here and there, the spies (cāra, mentioned in the Smṛtis particularly in connection with the tracking of thieves and rebels) like voracious crocodiles, the talkative herons i.e. the informers (corresponding to the stobhaka and sūcaka of the Smṛtis), the scribes (kāyastha) a brood of snakes ; also the elephants and horses necessary to trample down the criminals are mentioned (cf. §43). The functions of the chief judge are confined (as according to §45) to directing the investigation in which the assessors help him, and the passing of judgment, while the punishment is fixed by the king (Pālaka). Among the assessors the chief of the guild and the scribe (*śreṣṭhikāyasthādibhiḥ parivṛto 'dhikaraṇikaḥ*) are specially mentioned, who approximately correspond to the merchants (*naigama*) and the clerk (*lekhaka*) of the Smṛtis. The Śodhanaka "purifier" appears as the servant who sweeps the court hall and keeps the seats in readiness and then ushers in the judges, the parties and the witnesses like the Rājapuruṣa of the Smṛtis. The Rājapuruṣas also appears in the drama besides as police officers who seize the condemned criminal.