Administrative System of the Marathas c25.s3.38

c25.s3.38

The plaintiff is called Purvavadi in Marathi documents and the defendant is styled as Uttarvadi. This naturally reminds one of Purvapaksha and Uttarapaksha of the Shukranitisara,³⁵ which however stood for the plaint and the answer. The plaintiff first submitted a written statement and the defendant then submitted his own version of the case in writing. Then evidence was heard and judgment delivered. Finally the losing party had to execute a deed called Jayapatra or Yejitkhat in favour of the winner. This is the procedure recommended by the old law-givers. Narada lays down, that "the claimant, after having produced a pledge the value of which has been well ascertained, shall cause the plaint to be written. The defendant immediately after having become acquainted with the tenor of the plaint, shall write down his answer, which must correspond to the tenor of the plaint."³⁶ Brihaspati says, "The part called the declaration, the part called the answer, the part called the trial, and the part called the deliberation of the judges regarding the onus probandi: these are the four parts of the judicial proceeding. The plaint is called the first part, the answer is the second part, the trial is the third part, and the judgment is the fourth part." ³⁷