पान:आंग्ल प्रभा.djvu/21

l == În regard to criminal justice, it deserves to be noted that under Shahu Raja and the earlier Peishwas, the only punish ments judicially administered were penal servitude, imprisonment, in the forts, confiscation of property, fine, and in a few cases, banishment beyond the frontiers. Capital punishment or mutilation appears to have been studiously and religiously avoided, even in cases of murder, treason, or dacoity. Mutilation was inflicted in a few cases in the reign of Madhaorao I; but even in the troublous times in which he lived, capital punishment was never inflicted. In Savai Madhaorao's time, under Nana Fadnavis there seems to have been a clear departure from this mild administration of the law, and cruel mutilation and wholesale capital punishments were inflicted on criminals convicted of murder, treason or dacoity. The Brahmins and women of all castes were exempted from capital punishment. In the case of Brahmins, confinement in the fort was the highest punishment and the civil penalties were joined with religious penalties, including excommunication. The cruel punishments, inflicted in Nana Fadnavis' time, seem to have been the result of internal dissensions, which began to disturb the public peace in the time of Madhaorao I and increased in virulence when Raghoba Dada contested the throne. A comparative statement of figures compiled from the Selections will bring out this point more distinctly than any description in Words. In Shahu's time their were 8 trials for murder, in 5 of which the accused were acquitted, and only in three, the accused were convicted and fine and imprisonment were imposed. In the last ten years of Balaji Bajirao, there were 20 trials for murder, in 3 of which the persons charged were acquitted, in 8, heavy fines were imposed, and in the remaining 6, confiscation of property was the only punishment awarded. When property was confiscated, steps were taken to make compensation to the heirs of the murdered persons by making a grant to them out of the confiscated property. In the time of Madhaorao I, there were 7 cases, in which persons were tried for murder. Fines were levied in 3, and Vatans were confiscated in 3 other cases, and in one, where the murderer was a Brahmin, confinement in the fort was ordered. In Nana Fadanavis' time, capital punishment was awarded in two cases, involving a number of criminals, and other cases of murder were disposed of by the award of imprisonment, fine and confiscation. ln Bajirao III’s time, two cases of murder are, mentioned in these Selections, in which Brahmins were the offenders, and they were sent to prison. The punishment for petty treason, i. e., for creating a rebellion or joining the enemy, was, Criminal. Murder. Treason.