District Court Sirmaur, H.P.

Before describing the other details, it is necessary to give a brief account of the system of Civil and Criminal Justice that prevailed previously in Sirmaur District. Earlier, Sirmaur was a Princely State. During the reign of 42nd Ruler, Raja Fateh Prakash Criminal Cases were decided by ordeal system/method. There were four methods namely (i) swearing by ‘Ishwar Jagan Nath’, (ii) ‘Dib Ghara Gola; (iii) ‘Dib Dali and (iv) Dib Karachi’. There was yet another method called ‘Jal Dobani’.

In Civil matters, Raja used to hold an open Court known as Darbar, Once or twice in a week. The Court/Darbar’s proceedings were recorded in Hindi. The complaints could be made in Sirmauri script, based on Nagari letters. Prior to accession of Raja Shamsher Prakash, Civil Justice in Sirmaur State was administered according to old system and practically every thing coming to the Ruler/Raja for final decision. However, 44th
Ruler Raja Shamsher Parkash embarked upon reforms, as there was no clear Law/Rules and no set standards of Justice. The Raja’s word was the law of the day. Raja Shamsher Prakash[...]