§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.); I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he has any objection to let the House know the date and purport of the original and specific Report or communication which induced His Excellency the Governor-General of India in Council, after obtaining the concurrence of the Secretary of State for India, to assume 160 the administration of the Principality of Panna, in Central India, in September, 1901, and to suspend the then Ruling Chief of that State; and, if he has any reasons for refusing to publish such Report or communication, will he state what they are.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. BRODRICK, Surrey, Guildford)The circumstances of the death of the uncle of the late Maharaja of Panna, on the 25th June, 1901, were such that the Agent to the Governor-General ordered the Political Agent to hold a local inquiry without delay. The result of the inquiry was to establish that the deceased had died by poison, and to implicate the then Maharaja in the crime. The report was submitted to the Government of India on the 19th August, 1901, who, on the 1st September, issued the orders referred to by the hon. Member. The views of the Government of India, and the action taken by them on the findings of the Special Commission which was subsequently appointed to investigate the charges judicially, were published in the Gazette of India, in a Resolution dated the 21st April, 1902. As to presenting Papers, I agree with the late Secretary of State in declining to do so. It would not be in the interest of the State itself to publish the details. The facts are sufficiently stated in the Resolution published in the Gazette of India.