141 [PAR T A. of Pinj aur has a Naib-Tah sllda r. The Patw ads, who are.at present working under th e Se ttle men t Dep ar tme nt, ar e normally tin der the Tahs ildar . There Administra- are no Ka nungo s exc ept in th e Mohin dar garh r;>is~ric t. tive. ADJoII rllsTRATIVI DSPARTM&NTIi • Civilllncl . ~/ Before th e time of His Hi ghness Maha raja Karm Singh, the Crimin al jusUce . administrati ve and judici al work of the St at e wa s in the hands of the Tab /6 $ 34 an. 3S tMnad ri rs (fau jdr irs of the Afn- i-A kb ari ), the coll ec tors of revenue of Part B. Early history. (llgraha) be ing under th em. There was no tre as ur y an d no court . In each par gana there was a thril ladJr, and in Sunam and PatiaIa proper there were kotw ills . Their de cis ions in civi l and crimina l cases were final . Clai ms and offen ce s, of wh ateve r natur e, wer e disposed of after ve rbal enquiry. No record of eviden ce was ma de and no judg ment prepared. Final orders wer e gi ven by word of mouth. The pe ople ac quiesced in the decisions and seldom appeale d to the Dfwan or Wazir . Th er e was no re- gu lar law in force; the customs an d usages of th e countr y were followed in dec iding cas es, and ha d the for ce of law . Th e ti me Myat system wa!> ge nerally in vog ue , an d boundary disp ut es spe cia lly were referred to ar bitration. The adminis tering of oa th s (n em) to the lit igants was a great facto r in bringin g cases to an amicab le settl ement. The offenders were gep.erall y fined , but ha bitual and grave offend ers were impriS0ned without any fixed term of yea rs and ."ere releas ed at the pleasure of the presiding offi ce r. In murder ca ses the of fender's relations we re ordered to pay th e price of blood to the heirs of the dec eased by offer - in g ei the r a nata (f emale relativ e in marria ge) or some culturable land or some cash, and thus to bring abo ut an ami cable sett leme nt of th e case; othe rwise the perpetrator was han ge d, ge nera lly 011 a kikar tree, in so m~ conspicuous place where the corps e was left han ging for many days. Bar barous punish - ments, such as maim ing and mutilat ion, we re in force to some extent. Sometimes the fa ce, hands an d feet, of an of fender were blac kened and he wa s proclaimed by beat of drum , mounted on a do nkey through the streets of the cit y.l . Maharaj a Karm Si ngh beg an the wo rk of reform by appointing an Ad atatt (Judici al Ministe r) , but no lin e of demarcati on was drawn between his powers and those of th e thtinadars . Orders in criminal ca ses were sti ll given verba .lly, but in civil Ca se s files were mad e and judgments wri tten . Cas es of proprietorsh ip in la nd wer e decided by the Ad alati , thou gh th ey were tra nsf erred subsequen tly to the 1Jiwan . Duri ng the time of Mabara ja Narindar Singh five niza mats were ma .rked off and N~zims appoint ed to ea ch. One tahs il cc mprised tWQ ihanas, and sixt een Tahs ildars were appointed, who, in add ition to their reven ue work, dea lt with cr iminal and civil cases . His Hi ghn ess in troduced a Manual of Crim ina l Law ," The La w of Sam bat 1916, " for the guidance of cri minal courts. In most res pects it was similar to the Indian Penal Code. In the rei gn of Mah araja Mohi ndar Singh , Tahsildars were deprived of their judici al and crimi nal po wers and two Nai b-N iizims were appointed in each nizamat to dec id e civil an d cr iminal cas es and superintend the police . A Code of Civ il Pr oce dure, compil ed from' the British Indian Act VII of 18 59 and Act XXI II of 1861 with suitable modifi9tions, was introduced wh ich is still in force.l J 'For 'I . det ail ed accoun t "id e I Histo ry of Pat iAla ,' by Khalifa Sayyid Muhammad H al an, Pri me Miniiter , Pa ti<l .laState . I.p PATIALA STATE. J CHAP. III, B. The courts of original jurisdiction as they stand at the present day have Admlnistra- already been described . A TahsHdar can give three months' imp ri sonment tive. and Rs. 25 fine, and a Niib -N'.uim thr ee years' imprisonment and Rs -. 1,000 ' CIVIL AND CRI- fine. Appeals from the courts of TahsHdars and Naib-Nlizims all go to the MINAI . JUSTle.. Nazim. The Nizim is a Sessions Judge with power to pass sentences Preseftt system . of 14 yeani imprisonment and Rs. 1,000 fine. From the Nazim's decisions : appeals lie to the AdMaN in civil and crimina! and to the Diwan in revenue cases, with further appeals to the Chief Court and the ljlas·£-khas (the Court of the Maharaja). At the capital there is a Magistrate and a Civil Judge with Naib-Nizim's powers. Appeals from these courts go to ' the Mudwan Adalat, the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, who assistS 'the Adalatand has the powers of a N'azim. The Chief Court may pass any sentence au. thorised by law. Capital punishment and imprisonment for life however need the confirmation of th e IjUs-£-khds. In murder cases · the opinion of the Sadr Ahlkars is taken before the sentence is confirmed. Specia{ jurisdiction in criminal cases is also exercised by certain officials ·. The · Foreign Minister has the powers of a Nazim in cases where one party or both are not subjects of Patiala, Jind or Nabha. Appeals lie to the Chi ef Court. Cases under the Telegraph and Railway Acts are decided by an olUcer· of the Foreign Department subject to appeal to the Foreign Minister. Certain Canal and Forest Officers have magisterial powers ; in cases falling under Canal and Forest Acts, and the Inspector-General of Police exercises, similar powers in respect of cases which concern the police. During the Settlement operations the Settlement Officers a.re invested with powers too decide revenue cases· with an appeal to the Settlement Commissioner. IhviJion and Powers of revision (ntgrani) can be exercised by the · ArI(Uat[ and the review. Sessions Courts .; review (naaarsanf) by the Chief Court and I.fl rIs-i-khas only. The Indian Penal Code IS enforced without modification. The Criminal Procedure Code (Act V of 18g8) is enforced with some modifications of which the most important are given below. No court is inv ested with summaI:}' powers. In Sessions cases no jury or assessors are chosen. Special regulations have been made for the trial of cases of contempt of court, which offence is ID3 .deto include cases falling under the foHowing sections of the Indian Penal Code-17S, 178, 179; 180, Z2S ', The Civil Procedure Code differs . in many points from that of British India. There is no bar to appeals on the ground of the value of the suit. An civil suits, of whatever value, are beard in the first instan~e by the .Naib-Nazims, and in PatiaIa City by the Civil Judge. fag{rdars Special an4 Suits, civil or criminal, to which the of Khamanon are a 1011&1 la"s. partYr are heard by the Naib·Nazim, and revenue suits by the Tahslld .h, but the · appeals lie to the Foreign Minister. Hindu or Muhammadan Law is frequently fonowed in civil and revenue suits. For an account of the Revenue Law see page 145. The commODer A few members of the following tribes are addicted to the ' crimes '"rms of crime. noted ! against each :- (t) Sikh Jats,-Dacoity, robbery, house-breaking, distiUing illicit liquors, and trafficking in women. (~) Hindu Jats of the Bangar, -Cattle stealing and receiving. <3) Muh amma dan and Hindu Ra .jputs,-Cattle theft and receiving (4) Sun ar s,-R ec eivin g and retainin g sto len prope rty and making CHAP. Iil. B. and passing co unte rf eit co in . Adm~nlstra- tive. CIVIL AND CIU. MIHAL JUSTICE. The foll owing are the reg ular H crim in al tr ibe s" with the offences to Crim inal Tribe a whi cheach is special ly addi cte d :- &Ild Cr ime. (i) San sis, -Hous e breaking, hig hway ro bbery, daco ity, theft of st anding crops and corn from st ac ks . (£i ) Bau ria s,-Robb er y, house-break ing, da coi ty, th eft at railway stations and on roads . (iii) Biloch ls ,-House-b .reaking. (iv) Minas.-Dacoity, robbery and ho us e-bre aki ng Cases of murd er, adultery an d seduct ion are no t ve ry common. Civil litig ation is increasi ng. Pet ty case s are fo ught out to the bitter end, and theparties suborn witnesses fr eely to suppo rt th eir clai ms On this subiect theprov erbi al philosophy of the people is not silent, and some com mon say- ings are gi ven below :- / Gann itin de chor nlEnjut ian ai ma r-' For a man who ste als sugarcane, shoe· beating is enou gh.'The way of witne sses is show n in Tobe de mut e a4 ga'lllah aaadu -' A frog is the witne ssasto making water ina tan k'; Ape main rajii puj ji ape mere bachche jtwen-' God mayble ssme , my sons may live long ' ; chach4 chor, bhatija kaJ$i-' The uncle the thief, the nephe wthe jud ge' ; Ram Ram japn a paraya mal apna,-' Those who mutter R: .im Rim misappropriatethe property of others '; Munh sadh dd an,hidn chor dia n-' The face is the {ace of a saint , the eyes are those of a th ief '; Surat momn4n kartut kti f1"lin- ' His face is tha t ofa man and his deed s th ose of an infidel '; Ma n dMan gawan .wa lian Mp p Ilt janet i- 'T he mo ther and da ug ht er are th e singe rs an d the fa ther and son are the members of the marria ge pro cessio n '; Ghar ke dhddi , gha r ke dho l- ' The drum me rs and drums are ou rown'; Cho ra n aa .