Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 695

CIVIL
AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
655
impossible, they leave the decision to a panchayat, or
tribunal of five arbitrators,' which may be composed
of a larger, but never of a smaller number than five.
If
caste customs are the subject of dispute, the settlement
devolves upon the heads of the castes.
The procedure generally followed is that dictated by
is
'
common sense, by ordinary intelligence, and by such
principles of equity as one always expects to find established,
in theory at any rate, in all civilized countries.
Besides,
almost every member of a caste is well acquainted with its
different customs, which are handed down by tradition
from father to son, and thus are never lost. In short, the
form of judicial procedure in India is less complicated than
that of Europe, and would leave little to be desired if the
scales of Themis were not much more easily put off their
balance there than in other countries. Impartiality and
disinterestedness are virtues with which Hindu judges have
but a very slight acquaintance 1
Too weak to be able to
resist the bribes that are offered them, to be independent
of the prejudices and predilections of their own circle, or
to be above all considerations of personal interest, their
judgements are rarely conspicuous for unswerving upright-
Almost invariably it is the richer suitor
ness and integrity.
who gains the day and even the most guilty generally find
some means of blunting the sword of justice.
If the parties to a suit have an equally good case or an
equally bad one, the party which makes the most noise and
is loudest in its abuse of its adversary usually gains the day,
for eloquence at the Indian Bar consists in shouting with all
the strength of one's lungs, and in pouring such a flood of in-
vective on one's adversary that he has not an answer left.
There are two or three Hindu works which contain rules
and directions concerning the administration of justice,
both civil and criminal. The best known is the Dharma-
Sastras, which contains, amongst other things, a treatise on
Hindu polytheism. There are also the Niti-Sastras, and
the Manu-Sastras, which have been partly translated into
English 2
Many legal precepts and decisions, which would
.
;
.
Circumstances have now altered for the better in this respect. Ed.
These and other Hindu classics have now been published in English
form in The Sacred Books of the East series. Ed.
1
2