§ 17. Mr. TOUCHEasked the Under Secretary of State for India whether he will take into consideration the question of advising a closer approximation of bankruptcy laws and procedure in this country and India and communicate thereon with the Government of India, especially with a view to inquiring whether the time has come for abolishing in India the anachronism of imprisonment for debt to the same extent as has been done here?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSThe Civil Procedure Code was considered and amended in 1908, and the Indian laws of insolvency in 1907 and 1909. The Secretary of State doubts whether there is any necessity for the reconsideration suggested.
§ 18. Mr. TOUCHEasked whether it has been considered by the Government of India that the remedy of imprisonment for debt, subject to the discretion of the Courts, is less effective for the protection of judgment creditors, and less desirable in the public interest, than the remedy provided by the Bankruptcy Laws of this country; and do the Government of India act on the view that it is better to have a military officer withdrawn from duty and imprisoned for debt than to have a portion of his pay attached by his creditors, as has hitherto been the custom?
§ Mr. C. ROBERTSThe Secretary of State is advised that the law in India is probably as effective and as desirable in the public interest as the Bankruptcy Laws of this country. He is not aware of any case in which a military officer in India was withdrawn from duty and imprisoned for debt.