§ SIR J. JARDINE (Roxburghshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to a letter addressed to the Bombay Government by three members of the Legislative Council, complaining of the interference by the commissioner of police and other officials in the Bombay municipal elections; and whether, looking to the Government of India Orders of 12th June 1902, which declare that officers of Government interfering with the free choice of elective bodies will be severely dealt with, and to the fact that the Bombay Government has declined to take action, he will cause inquiry to be made into the complaint of the three honourable members of Council.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. MORLEY,) Montrose BurghsThe letter to which the hon. Member refers has been privately brought to my notice. Officials are not prohibited from offering themselves as candidates at municipal elections, and if they do, it is obvious that they must canvass; but I am confident that if any instance is brought to the notice of the Government of Bombay in which a candidate has made improper use of his official position to influence votes, they will act entirely in the spirit of Lord Curzon's letter of 1902.