Justice Markandey Katju-
Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.
In his ‘History of Bengal’ Prof. Charles Stewart mentions an interesting case of 1490 before Qazi Sirajuddin, the Qazi -e-Subah of Bengal, which displays justice at its purest.
One day while the Sultan of Bengal was practicing archery, one of his arrows accidentally wounded a boy, the son of a widow. The widow immediately came before the Qazi and demanded justice.
The Judge (the Qazi ) was in a dilemma. He said to himself, ” If I summon the Sultan to my court, I may be punished by the Sultan for impertinence, but if I overlook the Sultan’s act, I shall one day certainly be summoned before the Court of God to answer for my neglect of duty. ”
After much reflection, fear of God prevailed over the fear of the Sultan, and the Qazi ordered one of his officers to go and summon the Sultan to his Court.
On receiving the summons, the Sultan instantly rose, and concealing a short sword under his garments, went before the Qazi, who far from rising from his seat or showing the Sultan any mark of respect said to him. “You have wounded the son of this poor widow. You must therefore immediately pay her adequate compensation, or suffer the sentence of the law. ”
The Sultan made a bow, and turning to the widow gave her a sum of money which satisfied her. After doing so he said to the Qazi, ” Worthy Judge, the complainant has forgiven me. ” The Qazi then asked the woman if she was satisfied, to which she assented, and the case was then dismissed.
The Qazi then came down from his seat and made obeisance before the King, his sovereign, who, drawing the sword from beneath his garment, said, ” O Qazi, in obedience to your command I came instantly to your Court, but if you had not done your duty I swear that with this sword I would have taken off your head. Thanks to God I have in my dominion a Judge who acknowledges no authority superior to the law “.
The Qazi then took out a whip which he had concealed under his robes, and said to the King, ” O Sultan, I also swear by Almighty God that if you had not complied with the injunction of the law this whip would have made your back black and blue. It has been a trial for both of us.”
