§ MR. O'GRADY (Leeds, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the statement of the Government advocate, MR. Alweyne Turner, in opposing the application for bail of the five barristers arrested as a result of the Rawal Pindi riots, that the extracts from the speeches of the accused were not taken down verbatim, by a shorthand 1218 writer on the spot, but were written afterwards from memory; and, if so, what steps will be taken to assure the public in this country and in India that, in this and other cases of like character, prosecution will be based upon evidence of a more definite and accurate nature.
§ MR. MORLEYI am aware that the speeches made at meetings of this kind in India have not hitherto been taken down by shorthand writers. It is one of the objects of the Regulation of Meetings Ordinance, issued by the Governor-General on the 11th May, to obtain a more authentic report of the proceedings at such meetings in future.
§ MR. O'GRADYI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the agitation in which Lala Rajpat Rai was engaged was totally different in character from that to which Ajit Singh devoted his services; whether his attention has been drawn to the article written by Rajpat Rai two hours before his arrest, stating the grounds upon which the agitation was based; whether in any meetings a shorthand writer was present to report speeches made by Rajpat Rai; and upon what evidence, definite or otherwise, his arrest and deportation was ordered.
§ MR. MORLEYThe Answer to the first and third Questions is in the negative: that to the second in the affirmative: as to the fourth, I must refer my hon. friend to the statement I made in this House on Thursday last.
§ SIR H. COTTON (Nottingham, E.)Has the right hon. Gentleman any information in his hands to confirm the statement he made last Thursday to the effect that the speeches of Rajpat Rai were very greatly dominated by sedition, and that they were published broadcast, even on the floor of this House.
§ MR. MORLEYI must really ask my hon. friend to accept it from me that I am very unlikely to make statements on the floor of this House without having provided myself with fair and reasonable confirmation.
§ SIR H. COTTONWill the right hon. Gentleman lay the facts of the case on the Table of the House?
§ MR. MORLEYI think anything more injudicious from the point of view of Government and of law and order than that which the hon. Gentleman suggests cannot be imagined.
§ MR. O'GRADYI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the first detailed Report on the Comilla riots, and the subsequent Report and explanations called for by the local Government, are yet in hand; and, if so, will the Reports and Correspondence be laid upon the Table of the House, and when.
§ MR. MORLEYI have received the first detailed Report of the local Government on the disturbance at Comilla, but not the further Report. As I stated last Thursday, the disturbances resulted in several cases which were tried in open Court, and the proceedings were published in the newspapers. I do not, therefore, consider it necessary to lay any Papers on the Table.
§ MR. MACKARNESS (Berkshire, Newbury)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether it is the intention of the Indian Government at any time to formulate a definite legal charge against Lala Rajpat Rai and Ajit Singh, and to give them an opportunity of meeting the charge in a Court of justice; and, if not, for what length of time it is proposed to keep them in banishment and confinement.
§ MR. MORLEYI am unable at present to make any statement as to the intentions of the Government of India in respect of the matters referred to in the Question.
§ MR. MACKARNESSCan the right hon. Gentleman say when he will be in a position to make any statement?
§ MR. MORLEYNo, I am afraid I cannot.
§ MR. MACKARNESSI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether, under Section 527 of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure, the Governor-General in Council has power to direct the transfer of any particular criminal case from one High Court to another; and, if so, whether it is possible for the Government of India, by making use of this 1220 provision, to have Lala Rajpat Rai and Ajit Singh tried for their alleged offences without any danger to public law and order.
§ MR. MORLEYThe section referred to confers the power to transfer cases mentioned in the Question. I have already explained why it is not thought advisable to have Lala Rajpat Rai and Ajit Singh brought to trial, and I do not consider that these reasons would be less valid if the trial were held in any other part of India.