THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE OF MERCY IN INDIA,
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTI.TOF.."] SIR,—Your leaderette upon Sir John Hewett's action in the so-called "Sitapur case" undoubtedly hits the nail on the head. But one point raised by it is perhaps worth attention. In his letter to the Times of August 9th, Sir John observes that the rules regulating the exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy in India appear to be capable of improvement. These rules were revised not very long ago in consequence of an incident which led the then Secretary of State for India (Lord Morley) to censure the action of Sir Bampfylde Fuller in Assam, but the framers of the amended rules overlooked the not unusual contingency of a Lieutenant-Governor or other "Local Government" being confronted with a eenvietion obtained upon a successful appeal instituted in a High Court by the Local Government itself. Nevertheless it appears that when Sir John's locum tenons submitted petitions for mercy to the Supreme Government instead of dealing with them him- self, on the ground that he had been the appellant against the acquittals of the subordinate courts, be was subjected to "stern rebuke" at its hands, and directed to dispose of the petitions according to rule. Could any incident better illustrate the futility of rigid adherence to a code of rules which cannot possibly provide for every contingency ? Yet departure from a rule, however necessary its disregard may be, and a most proper reference to higher authority, proper because it relieved the Lieutenant-Governor of the invidious task of sitting in appeal to bear a plea against his own protest against the acquittal, are, we are informed, only visited with "stern rebuke." Sir John Hewett has always been something more than a mere exemplary official, but with weaker men the practice of sternly rebuking judicious dis- regard of rules is calculated to make service under the Government of India merely an organized subservience to the letter of imperfect rules rather than intelligent submission
to sound principles.-4 am, Sir, &c., I. C. S. (Punjab).
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