MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbigh-shire, W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the unsuccessful application of Miss Sorabji for permission to plead before the Allahabad High Court; whether he is aware that the lady referred to has taken law honours at Oxford and has passed the LL.B examination of the Bombay University, and has complied with all the necessary regulations; and whether he will state the grounds upon which she is prevented from practising before the High Courts of India.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEO. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)I am aware that Miss Sorabji applied to the High Court for permission to practise as a pleader, and that the Court, which has an absolute discretion in the matter under Letters Patent, refused its assent to her application. I do not know what honours Miss Sorabji may have taken at Oxford or elsewhere, nor do I know the grounds of the Court's refusal; but I think it probable that in was on account of her sex, which would equally have debarred her from practising in any court of law in this country.