Manusmriti:
A Critique of the Criminal Justice Tenets in the Ancient Indian Hindu Code
K.
Jaishankar*
Debarati
Haldar**
Abstract
The Manusmriti is the Hindu code of
ancient
Key words: Manu; Manusmriti; Hindu
Code; Crime; Punishment; Criminal Justice
The jurisprudence of Ancient India,
which was essentially Hindu-ruled, was shaped by the concept of `Dharma'[i],
or rules of right conduct, as outlined in the various manuals explaining the
Vedic scriptures such as `Puranas[ii]'
and `Smritis'[iii].
The King had no independent authority but derived his powers from `Dharma’,
which he was expected to uphold. The distinction between a civil wrong and a
criminal offence was clear. While civil wrongs related mainly to disputes
arising over wealth, the concept of sin was the standard against which crime
was to be defined. (Basham 1967; Jois 1990). The Maurya Dynasty, which had
extended to substantial parts of the central and eastern regions during the 4th
Century, B.C., had a rigorous penal system, which prescribed mutilation as well
as death penalty for even trivial offences (Sharma 1988).
About the 2nd or 3rd Century A.D., Manu[iv],
an important Hindu jurist, drew up the Dharmasastra[v] code,
which was called as Manusmriti[vi].
The code recognized assault and other bodily injuries and property offences
such as theft and robbery (Pillai 1983; Griffith 1971; Thapar 1990; Raghavan
2002).
Manusmriti dealt with
the duties of a king, the mixed castes, the rules of occupation in relation to
caste, occupations in times of distress, expiations of sins, and the rules
governing specific forms of rebirth. Though a theoretical textbook, Manusmriti
dealt with the practicalities of life and was largely a textbook of human
conduct. After Manu came Dharmasastras attributed to Yajnavalkya,
Vishnu, Narada, Brahaspati, Katyayana[vii],
and others (Jayaswal 1930). The later Dharmasastras were nearly pure
legal textbooks. The Manusmriti was considered superior to the other Dharmasastras
(McGrath 2003). The Dharmasastras claimed to be divine in origin and
to have been passed on by ancient sages who cannot be identified as
historical figures. Manu was found as early as the Rig Veda[viii]
(1200 BC), where he was described as Father Manu, the progenitor of the
human race. In the Satapatha Brahmana[ix]
(900 BC), Manu was depicted as the father of mankind when he followed the
advice of a fish and built a ship in which he alone among other men survived
the great flood. Afterwards he worshiped and performed penance and a woman, Ida
or Ila[x],
was produced and he started mankind with her. Manu was also the first king and
the first to kindle the sacrificial fire. As the originator of social and moral
order, he was the sage who revealed the most authoritative of the Dharmasastras (Singh 1998; Bhatia 2001; McGrath 2003)
Manu's
text, the Manusmriti or Manava Dharmasastra is the earliest of the
Dharmasastras. Its date is uncertain, being somewhere between 200 BC and 100
BC. It probably reached its present form around the second century BC. The
geographical horizon of Manusmriti was confined to the region north of Vindhyas
(Mahajan 1994). A seminal Hindu text, the Manusmriti
is important for its classic description of so many social institutions
that have come to be identified with Indian society (Olivelle 2004). In
the section of the text on raja dharma, the king's dharma, there
are passages on Hindu law. It was these passages, which were first, noted by
Western scholars and so the text became known as the Laws of Manu (McGrath
2003). The Manusmriti is the authoritative work on Hindu Law. It is the basis
of Manusmriti the Hindu law was adopted by Englishmen in
The Laws of Manu drew on
jurisprudence, philosophy and religion to create an extraordinary,
encyclopaedic model of how life should be lived, in public and in private, by
oppressed castes as well as by priests and kings, by women as well as by men (Doniger 1991). A few chapters deal with crime,
justice, and punishment. The criminal justice system in ancient
Without the knowledge of Varnashrama Dharma one may not be able
to understand the nuances of Manusmriti. The ‘
Manu Dharmasastra expressed and reinforced the
'
From the Vedic period
onward, the perennial attitude of Indian culture has been justice and
righteousness. Justice, in the Indian context, is a human expression of a wider
universal principle of nature and if man were entirely true to nature, his
actions would be spontaneously just. Men in three major guises experience
Justice, in the sense of a distributive equity, as moral justice, social
justice, and legal justice. Each of these forms of justice is viewed as a
particularization of the general principle of the universe seen as a total
organism. From the broadest to narrowest conception, then, ancient Indian views
on justice are inextricably bound up with a sense of economy (Wayman 1970).
Human institutions of justice - the state, law, etc. - participate in this
overall economy; but the belief has remained strong in
The state performed its duty of protection of
society and the individual through coercive enforcement of the standards of
justice, which are reduced for the purpose into the minutiae of positive law.
Through practical law-enforcement, the state must actually seek to controvert
the ignorance of those men in society who remain unaware or unconvinced of the
very purposes for which they themselves, the state, and society exist
(Bhattacharaya (1990). Accordingly, the traditional Indian king has been
invested with danda, "the sceptre”, a symbol of the power
and authority of the state, which rules, inexorably by law and punishment
(Menski, 1991). Manu, insists in his discussion of the role of the king that if
he does not " . . . inflict punishment on those worthy to be punished,
the stronger would roast the weaker like fish on a spit ... "[xi].
“Having fully considered the time and the place (of the offence), the strength
and knowledge (of the offender), let him justly inflict that punishment on men
who act unjustly,"[xii].
The exercise of the coercive power of danda with regard to
law-enforcement is considered just in the highest sense, since particularistic
legal codes are considered to be concrete and detailed embodiments of the more
abstract and exalted principles of justice which are fundamental to the cosmos
(Underwood 1978).
The administration of
legal justice and infliction of punishment was performed on the basis of
1.
The Judges[xiii]
It is found that jury system existed in Manu’s period and Manu
recommended the king to give the power of judicial administration to Brahmins
in his absence. It is also surprising to note the juries in the court of the
Brahmin judge were also Brahmins. Manu has described such a court where three
Brahmins versed in the Vedas and the learned judge appointed by the king as the
court of four-faced Brahman. Manu has provided the qualifications of the
king who can be the judicial administrator (Chakraborti 1996). The one
who is truthful, who acts after due consideration, who is wise, and who knows
the respective value of virtue, pleasure, and wealth can be the Judicial
administrator. A king who properly inflicts punishment prospers with respect to
those three means of happiness; but if he is voluptuous, partial, and deceitful
he will be destroyed, even through the unjust punishment, which he inflicts.
Manu felt that the judicial administration should not rest in the hands of a
feeble minded king (Buhler 1984). If judicial administration were given to such
a king he would destroy the whole country. Punishment cannot be inflicted
justly by one who has no assistant, (nor) by a fool, (nor) by a covetous man,
(nor) by one whose mind is unimproved, (nor) by one addicted to sensual pleasures
(Das 1982). By this concept, we come to an understanding that Manu insisted on
brahmanical assistance in the administration of justice. He also described the
just administrator as a one who is pure (and) faithful to his promise, who acts
according to the Institutes (of the sacred law), who has good assistants and is
wise, in the infliction of punishment[xiv].
2.
The Dangers of Injustice[xv]
Manu has signified the importance of the juries
for they should not fall in the wheel of injustice and if they do not accept a
trial, they may be punished. Manu believed that no one should go to the court,
but if there is a chance to go to the court then truth alone should be spoken.
Perjury is a crime according to Manusmriti.
If justice was destroyed by injustice, or truth by falsehood, and if the
judges were mere spectators, then they will be considered as offenders (Buhler
1984). Manu believed that 'Justice, being violated, destroys; justice, being
preserved, preserves: therefore, justice must not be violated, lest violated
justice destroy us.’ Manu gave utmost importance to justice and felt that
the only friend who follows men even after death is justice and everything else
is lost at the same time when the body (perishes). He has also divided the
guilt of injustice to various people. One quarter of the guilt of an unjust
decision falls on the offender, one quarter on the false witness, one quarter
on all the judges, one quarter on the king. However, if the offender who is
worthy of punishment is punished then the king is free from guilt, and the
judges are saved from sin and the guilt falls on the perpetrator alone. Manu
suggests that the administration of justice whether pure justice or injustice,
be according to the order of the castes (
Manusmriti has specified the part of the
judge’s function to probe the heart of the accused and the witness by studying
their posture, mind and changes in voice and eyes. Manu felt that the internal working of the
mind could be perceived through the aspect, the motions, the gait, the
gestures, the speech, and the changes in the eye and of the face (Buhler 1984).
Hence, it can be asserted that Manusmriti is the first code of law to take
account of judicial psychology.
In the distribution of stolen material, Manu does not insist on
discrimination between varnas. He has suggested that, the king should
restore the property stolen by thieves to men of all castes (
5.
Witnesses[xviii]
Manu has
described the eligibility of persons who can be witnesses. Householders, men
with male issue, and indigenous (inhabitants of the country, be they) Kshatriyas,
Vaisyas, or Sudras, are competent, to give evidence, not any persons
whatever (their condition may be) except in cases of urgency (Buhler 1984).
Trustworthy men of all the four castes (
While
making the eligibility of witnesses, Manu is sceptical about women and persons
of lower
Manu
counselled the king that he must not examine the competence of witnesses too
strictly in all cases of violence, of theft and adultery, of defamation and
assault. Manu gave importance to witnesses who can be added during the trial.
When a man originally not appointed as a witness sees or hears anything and is
afterwards examined regarding it, he must declare it exactly as he saw or heard
it. Manu scorns of false witnesses, and is vary about hostile witnesses, and
suggests that it may not be tolerated. However, he has also provided exception
in the case of where when the truth would cause death to a person, he suggests
lying. In a case at a later stage if it is found that a false evidence has been
given in any suit the judge reverse the judgment, and whatever has been done
must be considered as undone and case should be reinvestigated.
1.
The Eighteen Causes of Legal Action[xix]
Manusmriti divides crimes in to 18 types (Buhler 1984; Chakraborti 1996). They are
(1) non-payment of debts, (2) deposit and pledge, (3) sale without ownership,
(4) concerns among partners, and (5) resumption of gifts (6) Non-payment of
wages, (7) non-performance of agreements, (8) rescission of sale and purchase,
(9) disputes between the owner (of cattle) and his servants, (10) disputes
regarding boundaries, (11) assault and (12) defamation, (13) theft, (14)
robbery and violence, (15) adultery (16) Duties of man and wife, (17) partition
(of inheritance) (18) gambling and betting.
2. Verbal Assault[xx]
In the definition of various crimes and
punishment, Manu has strictly followed the
A Person who through arrogance makes false
statements regarding the learning (of a caste-fellow), his country, his caste
(varna), or the rites, by which his body was sanctified, shall be compelled to
pay a fine of two hundred (panas). A Person even in accordance with the facts
contemptuously calls another man one-eyed, lame, or the like (names), shall be
fined at least one karshapana[xxii].
He who defames his mother, his father, his wife, his brother, his son, or his
teacher, and he who gives not the way to his preceptor, shall be compelled to
pay one hundred (panas). For mutual abuse by a Brahmana and a Kshatriya
a fine must be imposed by a discerning (king), on the Brahmin the lowest
amercement, but on the Kshatriya the middlemost. A Vaisya and a Sudra
must be punished exactly in the same manner according to their respective
castes, but the tongue of the Sudra shall not be cut (Buhler 1984).
3.
Physical Assault[xxiii]
In cases of physical assault also, we can see
the different kinds of punishment based on
the three) highest (castes), even that limb shall be cut off. A Sudra who raises his hand or a stick, shall have his hand cut
off; he who in anger kicks with his foot, shall have his foot cut off.
A low-caste man who tries to place himself on the same seat
with a man of a high caste, shall be branded on his hip and be
banished, or (the king) shall cause his buttock to be gashed (Buhler 1984).
If out of arrogance a Sudra spits (on a superior), the king shall
cause both his lips to be cut off; if he urines (on him), the penis;
if he breaks wind (against him), the anus.
If he lays hold of the hair (of a superior), the (king) should
unhesitatingly cut off his hands, likewise (if he takes him) by the
feet,
the beard, the neck, or the scrotum (Buhler 1984).
4.
Damage to Property[xxiv]
A person who damages the goods of another, be it intentionally or unintentionally, shall give satisfaction to the (owner) and pay to the king a fine equal to the (damage). In the case of (damage done to) leather, or to utensils of
leather, of wood, or of clay, the fine (shall be) five times their
value;
likewise in the case of (damage to) flowers, roots, and fruit (Buhler 1984).
5.
Acts of Violence[xxv]
Manu has deeply
emphasized the punishment of violent crimes. A king who wishes to attain Indra's
throne and win imperishable and eternal fame, should never, even for a
moment, overlook the man of violence. A violent man is to be regarded as the
very worst kind of criminal, worse than one who is guilty of verbal abuse or
theft or one who beats another with a stick. A king who tolerates the
perpetrator of violence quickly goes to his own destruction and incurs hatred
(Buhler 1984). Neither for friendship's sake, nor for financial gain, however
high, may the king set free men of violence who are the cause of terror to all
living beings.
In the prevention of violent crimes, Manu has provided the right of private defence. It is worth noting that the Indian Penal Code (Sections 96-106) also provides the right of private defence. Twice-born men may take up arms when they are hindered in
the fulfilment of their duties, to protect the
twice-born castes (
n their own defence, in a strife for the fees of
officiating priests, and in order to
protect women and Brahmins (Buhler 1984); It may sound grim that Manu was
suggesting the use of violence, however, it is recognition of a fundamental
human right, the right to use violent means to resist violence. The law is
explicit; it gives each person an absolute right to defend himself against
armed attack, even if it costs the attacker his life. It asserts that right
even when the attacker is one's guru or a learned Brahmin, two persons whom one
would normally regard as sacrosanct. Later shastras restrict the right of self
defence to the case in which it is impossible for the victim to make his escape
by running away, and then restrict the right to use violence in almost exactly
the way contemporary English law does, requiring the victim to avoid any
excessive injury to the attacker (Melling 2002). It is also astonishing to note
that Manu did not show any leniency for any
Manu strongly believed that the “danda”
"the scepter”, a symbol of the power and authority was created by God
and only fear alone would make the human beings to swerve not from their
duties. Manu sturdily has advocated the theory of deterrence as the purpose of
punishment and the infliction of punishment should be according to the
principles of natural justice (Bose and Varma 1982). The king having fully
considered the time and the place of the offence, the strength and the
knowledge of the offender should justly inflict punishment on the offenders.
The concept of the consideration of the offence and offender for the purpose of
punishment falls in line with the modern principles of justice evolved by Jeremy
Bentham and Ceseare Beccaria. Manu felt that only punishment can
control all the human beings in the earth and gave utmost importance to
punishment. However, he is chary of punishment given without proper judgment
and felt that it may destroy the country[xxvi].
Manu cautions the king that if he does not punish the offenders who are
worthy of punishment, then, the stronger would roast the weaker, like fish on a
spit and a situation will arise, where, might may overrule the right. In a
country where punishment is not properly inflicted, the ownership would not
remain with any one; the lower ones would (usurp the place of) the higher ones
(Buhler 1984). The whole world is kept in order only by punishment, because
there is no one in the world who will always act in a just manner. Only the
fear of punishment runs the world. Manu also feared that if there was no
punishment then all castes (
Manu has identified ten
places on the body in which punishment may be inflicted. The sexual organ, the
belly, the tongue, the two hands, and fifthly the two feet, the eye, the nose,
the two ears, likewise the (whole) body are the ten places in a body fit for
punishment (Buhler 1984). From this view, we also come to know that Manu
supported retributive justice. Manu is against unjust punishment and warns that
unjust punishment will destroy reputation among men, and fame (after death), and
will cause even in the next world the loss of heaven. Manu provides stages of
punishment for an erring person if he continues to do the crime, first by
(gentle) admonition, afterwards by (harsh) reproof, thirdly by a fine, after
that by corporal chastisement. However, when the offender is not able to
restrain such offence even by corporal punishment, then the four modes co
jointly should be applied[xxviii].
Manusmriti has treated
different varnas and gender as unequal for legal purposes. The Hindu law
as codified by Manu was based on the principle of inequality. The punishment
for a particular crime was not same for all varnas. In fact, the
punishment varied depending on the
If a person has sexual
intercourse with a consenting woman of his own
Manu clearly asserts the supremacy of
Brahmanism by exempting Brahmins from any kind of punishment. In the case of
false evidence, all three other
of providing him capital punishment; but at the same time men of other castes shall suffer capital
punishment. He advises the king not to slay a Brahmin, though he have committed all
possible crimes, and the King should banish him, seizing his property and leaving him unhurt.
Manu even goes to the extent of asserting that No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahmin and
a king, therefore, must not even conceive in his mind the thought of
killing a Brahmin[xxix].
Manu also have widely
discriminated women in the administration of justice. Unequal punishments were
to given for women who have committed the crime same as men. Manu has
prescribed death penalty for women guilty of infidelity. Manusmriti prescribes
that the wife who touches, meets, or even talks to a man who is not her husband
is to be fed to animals. Lesbians were cruelly punished by having their fingers
chopped off[xxx].
Melling (2002) tried to
compare the different penalties inflicted on different classes for verbal
abuses with the different ways fines are imposed for property crimes. He did a comparison
and underlined that an interesting result has emerged.
In Chapter VIII 267 we read:
"A kshatriya who verbally
abuses a Brahmin is fined 100 panas, a Vaisya 150 or 200, a Shudra suffers
corporal punishment. If a Brahmin verbally abuses a Kshatriya, the fine is 50
panas, a Vaisya, half that, a Shudra, 12. .... If a once-born grossly insults a
twice-born, he shall have his tongue cut out..."
Melling (2002) continues “It is
tempting to read this text as privileging the higher castes at the expense of
the lower. We might well guess that the same pattern would apply in all areas
of the law; the higher the caste of the criminal, the lower the penalty, the
higher the caste of the victim, the higher the penalty”. What, then of this
ruling, in Chapter VIII 336:
"In a case where a common
man would be fined a single scratch-penny, the King will be fined 1000, that is
the established rule. For theft, the penalty on a Shudra is 8 times the value
of the object stolen, on a Vaisya, 16, on a Kshatriya 32 times, And on a
Brahmin 64 times, or 100 times or even 132 times, since he knows the nature of
the offence."
Melling argues “True
enough, the shastras give privilege and protection to the higher classes, in
that they enforce respect to them and defend them against violence, but the
shastras also enforce on the higher castes a higher level of responsibility in
their dealings with others. We are certainly not dealing with a social ideal
based on any notion of equality, but equally it is not simple one based on
privilege. When it comes to issues of property relations, the shastras remind
us of the law code of the Incas of ancient
However, it is difficult
for us to accept Melling’s (2003) arguments, as the comparison he makes
is not a fair one. How can one compare a punishment of cutting the tongue or
corporal punishment with that of fine? Are both being same? Can we compare the
pain out these punishments? Melling (2003) also brings in an argument
that Manu has shown utmost care to animal welfare and even trees. Melling
(2003) finds that the law fining cruelty to animals and the law forbidding
the damaging of trees show that the legal theorists of ancient and medieval
Unequal justice is found to be the base of Manusmriti. The
conflict between varna-vyavastha and the value of equality is more than
obvious. In fact, this system of graded inequality seems to be the very essence
of the varna-vyavastha. It denies equal respect to all in society. It
denies equality before law. Whether it is the choice of names, or the manner of
greeting, or the mode of entertaining guests, or the method of administering
oath in the court, or the process of taking out the funeral procession, at each
and every step in life, from birth to death, this system of graded inequality
is to be applied and observed (Nath 2002).
In the pre-independent
However, in the post independent
However, in
spite of the provisions in the constitution for equality in justice, we can
find that Manu’s reminiscences in the village justice system playing a major
role in the dispensation of justice. Holden (2003) in her research on some
villages in
For Nietzsche the human
wisdom of Manu far surpassed that of the New Testament; for the British Raj it
seemed to be the perfect tool with which to rule the Hindus. No understanding
of Hindu society is possible without it, and in the richness of its ideas, its
aphoristic profundity, and its relevance to universal human dilemmas. Manu
stands beside the great epics, the Mahãbhãrata and the Rãmãyana. Many
commentators find Manu contradictory and ambiguous and others perceive a clear
thematic integrity (Penguin 1991; Doniger 1991). Even after several centuries,
it still generates controversy, with Manu's verses being cited in support of
the oppression of women and members of the oppressed castes (Olivelle 2004).
The criminal justice tenets of Manu are remarkable in its vision and
application. However the inequality in rendering justice based on
[i] Dharma means righteousness.
[ii] Puranas are ancient Indian Hindu mythological texts were stories are given to highlight the importance of Gods and Goddesses.
[iii] Smritis are a set of texts, which teach the eternal immutable dharma found in the Vedas. Many sages have written Smritis.
[iv] Manu is considered as the first lawgiver of
[v] Dharma-shastra is the "science of dharma" and is a set of texts, which teach the eternal immutable dharma, found in the Vedas. The Dharma-shastras expanded and remodeled in verse form the Dharmasutras.
[vi] Manusmriti was the most important of Dharma-shastras and is the most famous of the ancient texts. The Manusmriti prescribed rules for all of society, so that each person might live according to dharma. It is in the form of the dharma revealed by Brahma to Manu, the first man, and passed on through Bhrigu, one of the ten great sages.
[vii] Yajnavalkya, Vishnu, Narada, Brahaspati, Katyayana are ancient sages who are considered to be the authors of smritis or books of dharma.
[viii] Rig Veda is the oldest of the Vedas and they are the ancient holy texts of Hindus.
[ix] Satapatha Brahmana is an ancient Hindu text.
[x] She is considered as the first women in the Hindu mythology who may be comparable to Eve of Bible.
[xi] Manusmriti. Chapter VII. 20.
[xii] Manusmriti. Chapter VII. 16.
[xiii] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 8-11
[xiv] Manusmriti Chapter VII 20-31
[xv] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 12-22
[xvi] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 23-6
[xviii] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 61-123
[xix] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 4-7
[xx] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 267-78
[xxi] Pana is an Ancient form of currency which may be considered equivalent of present day Rupee, the Indian currency.
[xxii] Karshanpana is an ancient form of currency, which may be considered equivalent to Paise, the Indian currency.
[xxiii] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 279-87
[xxiv] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 288-9
[xxv] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 344-51
[xxvi] Manusmriti Chapter VII 14-19
[xxvii] Manusmriti Chapter VII 20-31
[xxviii] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 124-130)
[xxix] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 379-81
[xxx] Manusmriti Chapter VIII 356-372
[xxxi] Panchayat means village justice system where principles of natural justice prevail without any interference of the contemporary criminal justice system
[xxxii] Tribals of
[xxxiii] A holistic term for all low caste Hindus
Bahadur Jung R.B.S.S. (1998). Crime and Punishment in Manusmriti and
Economics. Ph.D. thesis submitted to
Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar.
Basham, A.L. (1967). The
Wonder that was
Betai, R.S. (2003) Evolution of Law of Crimes in Ancient
Bhatia, H.S. (2001). Vedic and Aryan India: Evolution of Political,
Legal and Military Systems/edited Reprint. First Published in 1984/86.
Bhattacharaya, C. A. (1990). The concept of theft in classical Hindu
law: an analysis and he idea of punishment,
Bose, S. and P. Varma., (1982) Philosophical significance of Ancient
Indian Penology, Journal of Indian Philosophy 10(1) pp 61-100.
Buhler, G. (1984). The Laws of Manu.
Chakraborti, H. (1996). Criminal Justice in Ancient
Das, R. M. (1982). Crime and punishment in ancient India: with a
particular reference to the Manusmrti, 1st ed., Bodh-Gaya : Kanchan
Publications ; Based on the author's thesis (D. Litt. -- Magadh
University, 1978).
Dongali, D. (1986). Crime and punishment in ancient Hindu society.
The
Laws of Manu.
Drapkin,
Giri,
A. K. (2002). Rule of Law and Indian Society: Colonial Encounters,
Post-Colonial Experiments and Beyond , Jura Gentium, Centre for
Philosophy of International Law and Global Politics. Retrieved on
Griffith, P. (1971). To Guard My People: The History of the Indian
Police.
Holden, L.
S. (2003). Custom and Law Practices in
Jayaswal, K. P. (1930). Manu and Yajnavalkya - a comparison and a
contrast; a treatise on the basic Hindu law.
Jois, R. M. (1990). Legal and Constitutional History of
Kishwar
M. (2003). From Manusmriti to Madhusmriti:
Flagellating a Mythical Enemy, Manushi. Retrieved on
Lahiri, T. (1986). Crime and punishment in ancient
McGrath, J. I. (2003). Dharmasastras, Retrieved on
Melling, D.J. (2002) A DREAM of JUSTICE, a VISION of PEACE
.... Excerpts from a talk originally delivered to the Indian
Classical Music Society at Gita Bhavan,
Menski, W.
F. (1991). Crime and Punishment in Hindu Law and under Modern Indian Law. Bruxelles: De Boeck (series; Transactions of the Jean
Bodin Society for Comparative Institutional History; vol. 58).
Nath, R. (2002)Why I Am Not a Hindu, Retrieved on
Nehru, J. (1990). Discovery of
Penguin (1991) Introduction to Manu. Retrieved on
Pillai, A.(1983). Criminal Law.
Raghavan, R.K. (2002). World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems:
Singh, U.B. (1998). Administrative
System in
Thapar, R. (1990). A History
of
Underwood, F. B. (1978) Aspects of Justice in Ancient
Wayman, A. (1970). Varnaa`srama-dharma; Ends and Obligations of Man, In:
Joseph W. Elder (ed.) Lectures in Indian Civilization, Kendall/Hunt
Publishing Company:
ABOUT
THE AUTHORS
*Dr. K. Jaishankar is a Lecturer in the Department of Criminology and
Criminal Justice,
**Debarati Haldar is an Advocate. She is presently in the final year of Master’s programme
in International Law,