ON THE TOPICEVOLUTION OF JUDICIARY IN INDIA

With focus on

JUDICIARY IN ANCIENT INDIA

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW

PUNJAB

• The present judicial system is not a sudden creation.• The evolution of today’s judicial system traces back to earliest The Vedic ages, Arthasastra, Upanishad and Manusmriti.• One of the salient feature of ancient Indian law is based on Dharma principle (secular law).• There existed a civil and a criminal adjudication process.• Thus India is one of the countries have distinct oldest legal history.

CONCEPT OF ANCIENT INDIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Dharma in Sanskrit means righteousness, duty and law. Dharma is to administer justice, legal duties and religious duties. The basic

consideration was to uphold Justice without needless and vexatious litigation i.e. Secular Law. According to this principle the king is

responsible for the rule of law and to protect the people and punishing the wrongdoer.

As per rule under ancient Indian legal system, a cause of action arises when a person suffers injustice according to Manusmriti’s 18 principles.

Secular Law (Dharma), Evidence (Pramaan), History (Charitra) and Edicts of king (Rajasasana) are the four legs of law.

These principles were administered by administrative court units like:

1.) Sthaniya(central fortress for 800- - villages) 2.) Dronamukha(centre for 400 villages) 3.) Karyatik(centre for 200 villages)

4.) Sangrahana(centre for 10 villages)

RULE OF JUSTICE IN ANCIENT INDIA

RULE OF JUSTICE IN ANCIENT INDIA(contd)• For district(janapadasandhishu) there are Circuit courts.• Procedure of law in courts under the ancient Indian legal system is as follows:1. Complaint (sikayat), a complaint was taken cognizance after verifying

genuineness of the matter.2. Reply (uttara), the king was duty bound to protect civil rights of people, and

therefore summoning the other party to answer.3. Evidence (Pramaan), a trial was conducted in court by adducing witnesses

and documents.4. Judgment (nirnay) , was given and successful party entitled to jayapatra (a

document of success) entailing penalty or punishment for losing side.

In a nutshell, a civil proceeding initiates with filing of a plaint(purva paksha). It was required to be brief in words, unambiguous & free from confusion. Witness is considered as proof. Written statement (uttar paksha) was required to be present with witness. Different modes were prescribed and Judgment is made taking results of these modes in consideration. Fines or Penalties were awarded.

SETUP OF ANCIENT INDIAN JUDICIARY

TYPES OF COURT

Types of

court1. Kula (family

councils)

2. Shreni (Trade

councils)

3. Gana (Assembly of a

village)

4. Adhikrita (Court

appointed by the king)

5. Sasita (Kings court)

6. Nripa ( King Himself)

According to Manusmriti, there was a hierarchy of courts in ancient India beginning with the family courts & ending with the King. The lowest was the family chief and the highest was the king. Where as in other councils there are chief juries. The decision of each higher court superseded that of the court below.

SETUP OF ANCIENT INDIAN JUDICIARY

COURTS AND THEIR JURISDICTIONKula, Shreni and Gana could trial all the civil and criminal disputes except for an offence of violence. The ‘Adhikrita’ (king’s court) can take cases involving violence. The punishments are to be decided by the ‘Sasita’ but to be finalized by the king himself. The cases can be reviewed by after higher courts in hierarchy.JUDGES AND LAWYERS OF THE COURT• Role of judges in administration is described in smritis and sastra. High level of fearlessness, impartiality and independence on their part, even if their decisions are against the wishes of king, are inspiration to us. The principle of independency of judiciary is important according to Dharma. Therefore it can be seen that smritis had laid down certain points of independent jury system.• Every smriti emphasizes the importance of judicial integrity.• Counselors for the parties and helping the court was applied in the ancient times. Such a person must be well versed in law and was appointed by a party to litigation was called a Niyogi, the Niyogi was entitled to get fees.

JUDICIARY IN VEDIC PERIOD• There is an advisory body on religious matters simultaneously discharging certain judicial functions.• The samiti was the body for general deliberations.• The sabha was a body of select persons and was the national judicature JUDICIARY IN DHARMA SUTRA PERIOD• This is the golden period of Hindu legal history. Smriti comes in

Sutra period to stressed the need for an effective justice.• King was responsible for the rule of law and to protect the people and punishing the wrong doer.• The important Smritis which contributed immensely towards the development of Judicial system are Manusmriti and Brihaspati.• After the end of this period, law started to be categorized on the basis on the nature as civil nature or criminal nature.• Manu considered judicial system as the objective of any community’s socio legal life.

REFERENCES:WWW.LEGALSERVICESINDIA.COM

WWS-RESEARCHJOURNAL

WWW.ALLAHABADHIGHCOURT.IN

Conclusion•The Significance of custom was the vital part.• While maintaining custom a state is always hit dynamism and variation.• By gearing changes in law customs, we are letting Law to develop the evolutionary concept.• The Role of ancient India in today’s world law is clearly visible.• Ancient Indian Judiciary is more principled than Modern Indian Judiciary.• The ancient judicial system laid down by the great seers of India has all the requirements for a stable and workable judiciary.

Submitted by-ARYAN BABELE15206 GROUP NO. – 211ST SEMESTER, BA.LLB(HONS.)

Thank You!