§ 7. Mr. MILLSasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that seven young Bengalis were arrested in the Alipore conspiracy case between the 4th and 14th August, 1923, and put on trial on criminal charges involving capital punishment; that this trial took place before a judge and jury, 1803 and resulted on 17th April, 1924, in the unanimous verdict of the jury acquitting all seven accused, in which verdict the judge stated he concurred, and that, immediately after the judge had directed that they should be set at liberty, four of them were arrested under Bengal Regulation III, of 1818, and interned without any charge being made against them or any possibility of their insisting on being brought to trial; and whether, in view of the fact that these men have been in custody for eight months on charges of which, after trial, they have been found not guilty, he will give instructions for their immediate release?
§ Mr. RICHARDSI am aware of this matter, and I understand that the facts are stated with substantial accuracy in the question. My Noble Friend is at present awaiting further information from the Government of India, and expects to receive it by an early mail.
§ Mr. MILLSWill the Secretary of State also make inquiries into the manner in which confessing prisoners who turned King's evidence were kept in close seclusion for three or four weeks pending their evidence, which was subsequently proved to be police-manufactured and false?
| COMPARISON OF THE PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF BRITISH SOLDIERS SERVING IN INDIA AND AT HOME. | |||
| Warrant Officer Class II. with wife and two children. | |||
| In England. | For month of 30 days. | In India. | Per month. |
| Equivalent at 1s. 5d.* the rupee to | £21 7s. 7d. | — | — |
| Rs. 301.13.1 | — | Rs. 321.5.3. | |
| Sergeant with wife and three children. | |||
| Equivalent at 1s. 5d.* the rupee to | £14 6s. 1d. | — | — |
| Rs. 201.15.0 | — | Rs. 224.14.1 | |
| Private with wife and three children. | |||
| Equivalent at 1s. 5d.* the rupee to | £9 1s. 1d | — | — |
| Rs. 127.13.1 | — | Rs. 150.12.1 | |
| * The rate of exchange for the rupee is at present approximately 1s. 5d. |
§ 10. Sir C. YATEasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the calculations supplied to him, showing that a married lieutenant ordered to India of over seven years' service loses pay at the rate of £63 per annum and under seven years' service £68 per annum, and that married quartermasters, whose pay
§ Captain BERKELEYAre we to understand that the Government acquiesces in the invocation of a regulation more than 100 years old in order to deprive British subjects of their immemorial rights to a fair and speedy trial?
§ Mr. RICHARDSMy Noble Friend is awaiting further information on the subject.