The sultans implemented shariat or the Islamic law of crime and punishment the main sources of which were the Quran, the Hadis and Ijma. The ecclesiastical cases were separated from the criminal and civil suits.
The durbar of the sultan constituted the highest civil and criminal court of justice which took original as well as appellate cases. Below the sultan there was the court of qazi-i-quzat or the chief justice of the empire. Muhtasib the censor of public morals acted as police cum judge in the observance of the canon law by the Muslims. The village panchayats enjoyed the sanction of the state to administer justice according to the local tradition, customs and the personal law of the populace. The penal code was severe, physical torture and capital punishment constituted an essential part of it.