§ *SIR H. COTTON (Nottingham, E.)On behalf of the hon. Member for the Tyneside Division of Northumberland, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that in a recent case in which a capital sentence had been passed, a prisoner prayed to the Lieutenant-Governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam for mercy or, as an alternative, for the transmission of his memorial to the Governor-General in Council; that the Lieutenant-Governor rejected the prayer and forwarded the memorial to the Governor-General in Council, but ordered the man's execution; that the Governor-General in Council telegraphed staying the execution, but too late, as the man had already been executed; and whether he will make inquiries into the facts of this case, and prescribe rules which shall prevent the occurrence of any such incidents in future.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. MORLEY,) Montrose BurghsI find it difficult to believe that the facts are as stated in the Question, but if they are they amount to an enormity. I will therefore request my hon. friend to furnish me with the date of the case and the name of the prisoner, and I will immediately telegraph to the Government of India.