§ 95. Sir J. D. REESasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State will take steps to inform himself regarding the shock to public confidence occasioned by the second reversal, after a short interval, of a judgment of Mr. Justice Fletcher in a case affecting the efficiency of the executive administration and the reputation of an important public official; whether he proposes to compensate Mr. Weston in the same manner as Mr. Clarke, who was also cast in a suit before the same judge, which was reversed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; and whether the number of days occupied in the trial of the suit by Mr. Justice Fletcher was 192, spread over eleven months; what was the cost to the taxpayer, and if he will communicate the information he receives from India in this behalf to the House?
§ Mr. HAROLD BAKERThe allegation in the first part of the question is of so vague a character, that the Secretary of State cannot give any undertaking of the kind suggested. If Mr. Weston has suffered pecuniary loss through the suit and there is ground for relieving him of it, the local government under which he serves will doubtless make representations on his behalf; and in that event the matter will be fully considered by the Secretary of State in Council. The trial of the original civil suit in the Midnapur case began on the 17th August, 1910; judgment was delivered on 7th August, 1911. Inquiry is being made as to the cost of the proceedings.
§ Sir J. D. REESMay I ask whether the Secretary of State proposes to give any compensation to the victims of Mr. Justice Fletcher in these two cases, and whether he is aware, and, if not, whether be will inform himself, that this is a great judicial scandal in India which excites the greatest disturbance in the mind of the public service?
§ Mr. HAROLD BAKERThe Secretary of State is considering the matter.