Mr. CoLEBROoicE Oil H'lndu Courts of Justice. I73 



investigation, a candid avowal of opinion, and strenuous remonstrance 

 against unjust decisions, are strongly enjoined ; and it appears from the 

 whole tenoiu" of numerous passages, that the monarch presiding in person, 

 determines the causes on his own responsibility. The assessors of the court 

 merely oifer advice, but have no voice or vote in the decision. 



§ 9- Piinislimerit of iniquitous Judges. 



Iniquitous judges are punishable by line, exile, and confiscation, for 

 partiality, corruption, and collusion. 



The fine is rated at twice the amount of the penalty to which the party 

 cast would be liable ; or, according to a different inference from the same 

 law, twice the value of the thing litigated : but where this is not appreciable, 

 the prescribed punishment is confiscation of property. This, however, is a 

 controverted point; and the first-mentioned construction is the prevalent 

 one. Confiscation extends to the whole property of the oflfender ; and is 

 awarded in a case of bribery ; as is banishment also. 



If the judge's iniquity be not discovered until after judgment has been 

 passed, he is held bound in amends to make good to the aggrieved party 

 the whole amount of his loss. Whether the cause shall be reheard, is a 

 controverted point: one authority requiring revision of the judgment, and 

 another directing that it shall not be disturbed, but amends made to the 

 aggrieved party. This difference is grounded on a variation in the reading 

 of the same text of law. 



§ 10. Court-House. 

 Minute directions are given concerning the situation and aspect of the 

 court-house, and the decorations of the apartment in which the court is 

 held. It will be sufficient to cite authorities on these points, without going 

 into a discussion of unimportant questions arising out of them. It matters 

 little whether the court-room should be an apartment of the royal palace or 

 a separate edifice : nor does it much signify what are the proper and 

 auspicious dimensions of a building designed for this purpose, according to 

 Hindu notions of symmetry. Tlie east is the prescribed aspect, whether 

 the house be a distinct one, or contiguous to the palace. 



§ 11. Time a7id mode of Sitting. 

 There is something curious, or approaching to it, as descriptive of ancient 

 manners, yet not differing much from the liabits of modern Hindu princes, in 

 the minute directions given concerning tlie time when the courts should sit. 



