§ SIR H. COTTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the sentences of imprisonment for two years and fine of 1,000 rupees and of imprisonment for six months and fine of 200 rupees inflicted on the proprietor and editor of the Punjabi, a newspaper published at Lahore, for the publication, with 1023 comments thereon, of a statement, now proved to be false, that about two years ago a Mahomedan policeman had been shot by his superior European officer; and whether the Government of India are prepared to exercise the clemency of the Crown in reducing these sentences.
§ MR. MORLEYI am informed that an appeal has already been entered, and that, pending the result of the appeal, the convicted men have been released on bail. A second appeal would be open, if the first were to confirm the sentence. I see no reason to take any action at present.