§ SIR H. COTTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Bill to amend the Whipping Act., which has been introduced into the Council of the Governor General of India, does not provide that no whipping shall be inflicted by order of a Court unless and until the person convicted has had a reasonable opportunity of carrying his case before a Court of Appeal; and whether he will suggest to the Government of India the advisability of introducing a clause in the Bill to this effect.
§ MR. BUCHANANIt would be impossible to provide for an appeal while maintaining the penalty of whipping as an alternative to imprisonment, since, pending appeal, the prisoner would have to be retained in custody. The object in view has been met by providing that only experienced officers, exercising first-class powers, shall be authorised to inflict the penalty.
§ SIR H. COTTONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether 1084 in the Whipping Act Amendment Bill, introduced into the Council of the Governor General of India on 13th March, the punishment of whipping for larceny has been abolished; and, if so, whether he will take steps to prohibit flogging as a punishment for casual and ordinary theft.
§ MR. BUCHANANThe punishment of whipping for casual and ordinary theft has not been abolished by the Bill, and the Secretary of State does not propose to take any steps in the matter.