King
Kekille as a judge is hard to equal
The Court of King Kekille was in session. Only prosecution lawyers
appeared in this Court as defence lawyers were not permitted. Justice
was meted out speedily because the King believed that justice delayed
was justice denied. "Bring me the first accused" ordered
the King.
"He
is being accused of stealing a few kilos of rice meant for the poor…"
the Chief Prosecutor said."Ah, that is a very serious offence",
the King said, "if the poor are unhappy, they will rebel against
me; so, we must punish him. Sentence him for five years…"
"Consider
it done, Sir", the Chief Prosecutor said, bring forward the
next accused. "Sir, this man has been charged with damaging
a place of entertainment at night…"
"Why
did you do that?" the King asked the accused.
"O King, I am against gambling. When I saw this gambling den,
I thought I must destroy it to prevent our younger generation from
being addicted to this nasty habit…"
"That
seems a convincing explanation," the King said, " I shall
discharge you and you shall be appointed a minister of the state…"
"O King," the Chief Prosecutor said, bringing forward
a military man, "the next accused has been charged with conspiring
to kill a few young men on election day…"
"Why
did you do that for?" King Kekille asked the accused.
"O King, the accused were trying to hold free and fair elections…"
"Ah," said the King, "free and fair elections are
harmful to my reign; you have done a great service but because the
charge is serious we will have to discharge you after a full trial…"
"Sir,"
said the Chief Prosecutor, "the next accused is the Empress
herself…"
"Why, what has she done?" demanded the King.
"She has said that the Guards and your Courts are corrupt…"
King
Kekille said, "Empress, what do you have to say in your defence?"
"O King, what I meant was that some of our guards and some
of our courts are corrupt. You don't have to take it personally…"
"I can't punish you for stating the truth," the King said,
"you are therefore discharged…"
"O King," said the Chief Prosecutor, "the next accused
is a former Courtier who is charged with defaming your Court…"
"Why
did you do that for?" the King asked the accused.
"I was only addressing farmers in a paddy field, O King",
the accused said, "and I do apologise for what I said..."
"This is an extremely serious offence," said the King,
"if the farmers dislike me, they wouldn't produce rice and
I would starve to death. So, I am considering this as attempted
murder and sentencing you to two years rigorous imprisonment…"
"The
next accused," said the Chief Prosecutor, "is the Crown
Prince. He has to be charged with Contempt of Court because he predicted
your verdict in the former Courtier's case…"
"How can he do that?" King Kekkille asked, "he can't
predict anything. His predictions about who would rule the country
have been wrong for the last twenty five years. I am discharging
the poor man…"
"Then,
that concludes proceedings for the day, O King," the Chief
Prosecutor said.
King Kekkille left the Court and headed towards the Diyawanna for
some relaxation. |
