§ MR. A. C. MORTON (Peterborough)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that a Memorial, dated 1st October, 1892, addressed to the Secretary of State for India, from Mr. N. D. Kalvade, late Magistrate and Mamlutdar, was received by the Government of Bombay on the 2nd October, 1892, and 20th April, 1893, respectively, for the purpose of being transmitted to this country, and that His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, in the exercise of his discretion, refused to forward such Memorials, on the ground that Mr. Kalvade's salary was short by the fraction of a rupee of the amount fixed by certain rules; whether Her Majesty's Government will direct the early transmission of the said Memorial; and whether Her Majesty's Government will take proper steps to prevent for the future any restriction by the Indian Government of the right of petition?
MR. G.RUSSELL(1.) Yes, Sir. The Secretary of State is aware that Mr. Kalvade submitted to the Government of Bombay Memorials to the Secretary of State, dated respectively 1st October, 1892, and 3rd February, 1893; and that that Government, in the exercise of the discretion vested in it in the case of officers whose salary does not exceed Rs.250 per mensem, declined to forward the Memorials; (2) as my hon. Friend was informed, in reply to his question on the 6th April last, the Secretary of State 1687 cannot consent to re-open the matter; (3) nor does he consider that it would be advisable to limit the discretion which has been reserved to the Governments in India in regard to such matters. In view of the large number of officers serving in India, and of the difficulty of investigating such cases in this country by means of correspondence with India, it is absolutely necessary that the decision of the Government of India should, except in a few—the more important—cases, be regarded as final.
§ MR. A. C. MORTONOn the Indian Budget I shall call attention to this matter.