Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c11.s5.4

c11.s5.4

Śukra admits a large variety of fines but he lays down that financial motives should never inspire judicial administration. Imprisonment with "ignoble works" for one, three or six months or for a year or for life is prescribed, but Śukra here seems to forbid capital punishment. The State has the right to expel murderers, cheats, atheists, adulterers, corrupt officers, sedition-mongers, prostitutes, or those who violated social conventions, sold their daughters or injured their kith and kin. These and other miscreants "should be bound and transported to islands or forts, and employed in the work of repairing roads and made to live on insufficient and bad diet." Those who forsook their parents or wives and turned vagabonds should be bound in chains and set to repair roads.¹ The administration of justice stands in the forefront of the duties of the State. The wicked must be punished. The people must be protected and their welfare must be actively promoted. Enemies must be destroyed. Their destruction means "the prevention of them from committing injuries." All cases must be decided according to Dharmaśāstras. The king's justice, however, must always respect local usage. Śukra expressly contemplates a case in which one would be punished for what would be no offence in another. But in no case is punishment to be arbitrary.