§ SIR H. COTTONI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the case of Srinivasa Tyengar, printer of the India newspaper, published in Madras, who has been sentenced by the High Court to five years hard labour for printing seditious articles; whether the Crown challenged all the Indian jurors summoned for this case except one; whether the jury who convicted the accused consisted of eight Englishmen and one Indian, who is an official under the Government; and whether, in all the circumstances, seeing that there is no appeal from this order, the Secretary of State will communicate with the Government of India with a view to mitigating the severity of this sentence.
§ MR. BUCHANANThe Secretary of State has seen a newspaper report of the case, but has no official information on the subject. Both sides appear to have 742 made use of their right to challenge jurors. As my hon. friend is aware, the jury returns the verdict of guilty or not guilty, but they have nothing to do with the severity of the sentence. The accused can appeal for a reduction of his sentence to the Government of Madras and the Government of India, and finally to the Crown.