§ Captain BOWYERasked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that, under the authority of Army Instruction (India) No. 439 of 1918, by which a staff school for officers was formed for the period of the War at Saugor, India, it was provided that for the purpose of pay allowances officers under instruction should be regarded as on privilege leave from the appointment they held immediately prior to proceeding to the school; that certain officers were specially to attend this staff school from expeditionary forces overseas; that when the Government of India discovered that such officers were being struck off the strength of their expeditionary force and so dropping the staff pay of their field appointments the Government of India, in a letter, No. 15143, dated 9th November, 1918, from the Deputy-Secretary at the Government of India Army Department to the Adjutant-General in India, authorised the payment to such officers of the full pay of the appointment which they held prior to selection for the staff course; that on the authority of this letter such officers drew full pay while at Saugor; that the authority given by letter No. 15143 of9th November, 1918, was cancelled by letter No. 319. dated 8th January, 1919, from the Deputy-Secretary at the Government of India Army Department to the Adjutant-General in India on instructions given by the Secretary of State to the Government, of India; and that orders were issued for the immediate recovery of the excess pay distributed under the authority of the previous letter; whether he will explain why officers 1394W specially selected for their previous services in the field should be treated differently to officers who had previously been serving in India; and whether, in view of the original promise made to these officers, he will issue immediate instructions for the excess pay recovered from such officers to be refunded forthwith?
§ Mr. MONTAGUIn sanctioning the issue of the full pay of their field appointments to officers detailed to attend the Saugor school from expeditionary forces beyond seas the Government of India exceeded their authority, and their action was disallowed after reference to the War Office. But instructions were issued in May last that no retrospective recoveries of amounts paid in excess were to be made, and action is being taken to make the necessary adjustments.