History of Marathas EP17 - Narayanrao Peshwa

Ram Shastri Prabhune conducted an enquiry and found Raghunathrao the culprit in addition to another fifty persons of which there was one female servant. 'The law,' he thundered 'was above the individual.' The intrepid judge fearlessly argued the point and told Raghunathrao on his face that he was himself found to be the chief culprit and as such deserved the capital punishment. Raghoba asked indirectly whether a person who had committed a crime under unavoidable circumstances and now wanted to repent could seek penance. When his point was put forth, Ram Shastri boldly declared, 'Dehant prayaschitta shivay doosra kahi prayaschitta nahin,' meaning 'the only penance was capital punishment or a death sentence.' Never before in the history of India or for that matter in any country a sitting judge had passed a death sentence on the ruling monarch. It was a rare show of judicial independence which we possibly do not see even in today's times. Those present in the court could not believe what they had just heard. There was a hushed silence...