§ SIR H. COTTONI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for India whether, having regard to the provisions of Article 351 of the Civil Service regulations under which the Indian Government possess the right of withholding or withdrawing a pension or any part of it if the pensioner be convicted of serious crime or grave misconduct, and of the fact that the decision of the Secretary of State on the exercise of this power is declared final and conclusive, the Secretary of State proposes to make any inquiry into the circumstances under which the pension of a retired tehsildar in the Central Provinces was lately withdrawn, on the ground of his participation in political agitation.
§ MR. BUCHANANAs I have informed the hon. Member in reply to previous Questions, it is open to the retired official concerned to submit an appeal in the usual manner, but, so far as the Secretary of State is aware, he has not yet done so. The Secretary of State does not propose to withdraw the case from the hands of the competent authorities in India.