§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been directed to the judgment of the Deputy Magistrate of Gapalgunge, Behar, in the case of the "Empress v. Jageswar Rai and others," tried on 15th January, 1894, in which a Government Surveyor, under the Behar Cadastral Survey, and another person officially described as "the hanger-on of the Surveyor," charged a number of ryots with beating them; whether he is aware that the Magistrate found that the complaint of the Surveyor and his hanger-on had only been lodged 10 hours after one of the ryots had complained to the police of having been beaten by the Survey party for refusing, as he alleged, to give them rations; also that the story of the Surveyor and his hanger-on was absurd and improbable; that it certainly was not the truth, and had apparently been concocted; and that they had been simply seeking to intimidate the ryot, while the story of the ryot was found to be a more probable narrative, and fined the ryot, the hanger-on, and the Inspector of the Behar Cadastral Survey 20 rupees apiece; and that the judgment stated that the police had taken no action on receiving the complaint of the ryot, except to send him to hospital for his wound, but that on receiving the Surveyor's complaint, 10 hours afterwards, they had taken immediate action on the latter complaint, the hanger-on being also sent to hospital the next day with a wound similar to the ryot's; and whether the Papers in this case can be laid before Parliament?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. H. H. FOWLER,) Wolverhampton, E.I have received no Report on this matter, but I will make inquiries as to it.