§ MR. O'DONNELLasked the Secretary of State for India, Whether he has received a Petition from Mra Tha Doon, lately a native magistrate at Akyat in British Burmah; whether Mra Tha Doon complained of being dismissed without a hearing after more than twenty years' service; whether the Petition of Mra Tha Doon was rejected by him on the ground that no complaint made direct to the Secretary of State can be attended to; whether it is the fact that Mra Tha Doon had previously petitioned the Deputy Commissioner at Akyat for a hearing and had received no reply; had then petitioned the Chief Commissioner of British Burmah for a hearing and had received no reply; and then petitioned the late Governor General of India, Lord Lytton, for a hearing and had received no reply; and, whe- 1725 ther he will take any steps to obtain a fair hearing for any complaints of alleged wrongful dismissal which this native ex-magistrate has to make?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONSir, early in 1881 a Petition reached the India Office which purported to come from Mra Tha Doon, who was formerly an extra Assistant Commissioner, third grade, at Akyat, in Arakan. That Petition was returned to India, not having been forwarded according to the rules of the service through the Government under which the memorialist served. It is impossible to say now what particular complaints were made in that Petition. There is no information in the India Office as to whether it is or is not the fact that Mra Tha Doon had previously presented all or any of the other Petitions referred to in the Question. But there are records in the India Office which show that Mra Tha Doon was dismissed by order of the Chief Commissioner of British Burmah, dated the 15th of July, 1879. The charges against him were considered in detail by the Commissioner of Arakan, by the Judicial Commissioner of British Burmah, and by the Chief Commissioner, Sir Charles Aitchison, and each of these officers in succession considered the explanation submitted by Mra Tha Doon entirely unsatisfactory, and that it was necessary he should be dismissed. Having no reason whatever to doubt that Mra Tha Doon was fairly and properly dealt with, I have no intention of taking any steps in the matter.