§ MR. MICKLEM (Hertfordshire, Watford)To ask the Secretary of State for India, whether there is any record of the grounds upon which the memorial of Raja Dusht Nikandan Sen, Chief of Sukeh State, Punjaub, presented in 1904, and praying that the Raja's claims to the chiefship of Mandi might be inquired into and considered, was rejected by the then Secretary of State for India; and if so, whether he will state the reasons for such rejection, and whether the Raja was informed why he was not accorded a hearing.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) The proceedings of the Secretary of State in Council, which resulted in the rejection of the memorial referred to, are on record. The reason for the rejection of the memorial was that it established no ground for interfering with the orders passed by the Government of India in 1897, recognising the adoption, by the late chief, of a son who is the present chief. The memorialist was duly informed that the Secretary of State, after fully considering all the circumstances of the cases, saw no reason for interfering with the orders of 1897.