§ * MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has seen the Report of an appeal, heard this month, by the Supreme Court of the Transvaal, in the matter of Rex v Mahomed Hafeejee Moosa, wherein a British Indian lad, under eleven years of age, living with his father, was arrested and charged before the magistrate at Volksrust, found guilty, sentenced to pay a fine of £50 or to undergo imprisonment for a period of three months, and to leave the Transvaal after the completion of his term of imprisonment or payment of fine as the case might be; whether he is aware that the Supreme Court has quashed the conviction, and made certain comments upon the administration of the Peace Preservation Ordinance regarding the British Indians; and whether the Colonial Office proposes to take action upon the said judgment.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe case in question came before the Supreme Court on appeal from the assistant resident magistrate at Volksrust. The Government did not oppose the appeal, and had remitted the sentence before the appeal was heard. The comments of the chief justice appear to have applied to the action of the assistant resident magistrate and that action was practically repudiated by the Transvaal Government. No action on the part of the Secretary of State appears to be necessary.