Judiciary and Punishments

Inscriptions refer to the existence of a separate civil court of justice in the city known as Manru^[1], in which the dharmadhikaris sat in judgment. Above this is the king’s court called dharmasthana. Inscriptions of the time of Nrpatungavarman, Kampavarman and Aparajitavarman (circa 9^th century A.D.)^[2], mention a certain dharmasasana in close association with the sabha of the village, having the power to receive fine. Prof. Y. Subbarayalu^[3] opines that “the dharmasasana is found mentioned only in the brahmadeya villages”. Thus, it seems that there was no special central court of justice under the chairmanship of the king and judicial administration is carried only locally.

The Sanskrit play Mattavilasa-prahasana^[4] speaks about the existence of bribery and its impact on the judgements made in the court. When the Pashupata asks both the Kapalika and Bauddha bhikshu to seek justice from the court to solve their problem of deciding the ownership of the begging bowl, Devasoma, the female companion of the Kapalika laments that the bhikshu with his riches would bribe the judges and turn the verdict in his favor.

From the sculptures no information is got regarding the judicial administration or infliction of punishments, except for a solitary representation in a panel on the western wall of the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram (fig. 40). Here two men are seen pierced through a rod or spear, which can be identified as scene of impalement^[5].