Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
During ramadan I had to attend a mini court. On that day I had to break my fast, as I was very tired due to lack of sleep the night before and as I felt extremely nervous of presenting the case in a professional manner. I tried my best not to break the fast however my throat was dry and I could feel my thoughts becoming very racy… what is the penalty for missing a fast on these occasions

Walaikum assalam,
1. The reasons you mentioned are not a valid excuse to break the fast.
2. As such, you need to:
a) Make up all missed days;
b) Fast one set of 60 consecutive expiatory (kaffara) fasts.
Check the Hanafi archives
(http://www.SunniPath.com) for details of the fiqh of fasting.
Walaikum assalam,
Faraz Rabbani.