HC Deb 14 June 1883 vol 280 cc548-50
MR. O'DONNELL

asked the Under Secretary of State for India, What was the precise charge on which Mr. Banerjea was removed from the Indian Civil Service?

MR. J. K. CROSS

Mr. Banerjea, as Assistant Magistrate, had to submit periodically a record of the state of business in his Court. In order to prevent this record showing the extent of the arrears into which, through sheer neglect of duty, he had allowed the cause list to fall, he was guilty, in the words of the Governor General in Council (the Earl of Northbrook), of "dishonest fabrication of his judicial records;" of "palpable abuse of his judicial powers;" and of "the infliction of injustice upon innocent persons." In other words, he had grossly neglected his duty, and excused himself by repeated prevarications. The charges against Mr. Banerjea were investigated by a Special Commission, appointed for the purpose, under Act 37 of 1850. The Commissioners were unanimous in finding him guilty, and the Viceroy concurred in their decision. The charges are 14 in number, referring, for the most part, to a single case. They are so lengthy, complicated, and technical that nothing would be gained by giving them in detail. But I shall be happy to show the Papers to any hon. Member who may wish to see them.

MR. O'KELLY

asked how many Natives were on the Commission?

MR. O'DONNELL

asked whether Mr. Banerjea had not always maintained that the evidence against him had been misrepresented by the Court; and whether it was Rot the fact that he had been raised to the position of honorary magistrate by Mr. Rivers-Thompson, the present Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, although that gentleman was opposed to the Native Jurisdiction Bill?

MR. J. K. CROSS

said, that Mr. Banerjea had been appointed an honorary magistrate because he had achieved considerable municipal distinction in Calcutta, and the general practice was to appoint to honorary magistracies people who had attained that position. He was not in a position to answer the first portion of the Question.

MR. O'DONNELL

asked whether it was in accordance with the rules of the Government of India to place a man who had been found guilty of fraudulent conduct in the position of an honorary magistrate?

MR. J. K. CROSS

asked the hon. Member to give Notice of the Question.