Kautilya's Maxims
22
Assault
(ArS 3/19:17-18)

[Previous Discussion]: Individual and group assault.

The Teachers: An old case of assault or criminal trespass is not actionable.

Kautilya: There should be no release of an offender from responsibility.

That is, there should be no rule of limitations on crimes against the person. We might generalize the principle here implied by saying that an injury is a continuing fact, and remains always actionable. Compare Kautilya's treatment of the abandoned wife, where the restoration of her right to marriage and family has a fairly rapid timetable (Maxim #15). We might then formulate another implied Kautilya principle: Some rights become worthless if not promptly exercised. In accountancy terms, Kautilya's judgements often have the effect of preserving ledger value, whether positive or (as in this case) negative.

The larger context is the practice of governmental amnesty. One concludes that, like the historical Confucius (see LY 4:11), Kautilya would not have approved of amnesty.

 

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