§ Mr. SPOORasked the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to the circular letter issued on 15th September, 1919, by the Government of India (Indian Munitions Board) to the various local governments and administrations in India concerning the drugs and surgical dressings required by the forces in the field supplied to Government by a firm of chemists in Bombay, and stating that the drugs were so adulterated and the dressings so medicated, and otherwise below' the represented quality, as to imperil the lives of soldiers; that this was done deliberately by the firm in question to swell its own profits; that the name of the firm had, therefore, been removed from the Government of India list of contractors, and recommending that it should be removed from the lists of contractors to the provincial governments; whether, in communicating this information to the public through the Press, the name of the firm in question was suppressed and is still being withheld, and why: whether he will 421W communicate the name of this firm to the House and explain the reasons of the Government of India for their failure to prosecute the directors or managing directors, or both; and whether he will direct that such prosecution shall take place?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI have no information on the matter to which the hon. Member refers, but I will inquire.