History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.464.4

v4.c63.464.4

93, 97) shows that great Emperor's anxiety that his judicial officers should strive to see that there is no undeserved fettering or no undeserved harsh treatment. In India the list of capital offences at any time was much shorter than in the West. Stephens is constrained to admit that in England 'there can be no doubt that the legislation of the 18th century in criminal matters was severe to the highest degree and destitute of any sort of principle or system' (His. of Cr. Law, vol. I. p. 471). As stated by Dr. Hart (in 'Way to justice' p. 94), at the beginning of the 19th century in England more than a hundred offences were punishable by death. In 1832 a child was convicted at Ludgate Hill for stealing a box of paints worth two pence, was tried at the Old Bailey and hanged (vide 'In the service of youth', by Dr. J. M. Brew, 1943 chap. XV. p. 208).