HC Deb 06 March 1905 vol 142 cc407-8
MR. HERBERT ROBERTS

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India what steps were taken to obtain the views of the Indian public on the measures recommended by the Police Commission Report before the Secretary of State passed his decisions on the subject; and whether, before the Government of India state their conclusions upon the question, the public and the Press in India will be informed as to what these recommendations are, and will have an opportunity of expressing their views upon them.

MR. BRODRICK

The Report of the Indian Police Commission was founded upon an exhaustive inquiry carried out in public, the evidence given at which, by a very large number of persons, unofficial as well as official, was published in the newspapers at the time. The decisions which have already been arrived at relate to questions of establishment, pay, and organisation, in regard to which the Government considered that they already had sufficient information before them. Other recommendations contained in the Report will require legislation to give effect to them, and, as the hon. Member is aware, the ordinary course of legislation in India fully secures to persons interested an opportunity of expressing their views on the questions to which it relates.