The Home Secretary in accepting the Report adopts a position
which we feel bound to describe as astonishing. He declares that, though Mr. Edalji is not entitled to a free pardon according to the principles which have for many years governed the exercise of the prerogative of mercy, be yet not only advises the granting of a free pardon, but relieves him from his disqualification as a solicitor. Nevertheless, be decides that the case is not one in which any grant of compensation can be made. The decision is thoroughly un- satisfactory, and indeed unjust, from every point of view. If Mr. Edalji did not commit the offence with which he was charged, as it is clear the Commission entrusted with the investigation consider he did not, then he is an innocent man who has suffered a grievous wrong, and who ought to receive compensation for that wrong. To charge him with having written the letters seems to us to be entirely irrelevant. Even granted that the evidence that he wrote the letters is overwhelming, we must never forget that he was not charged with that offence, but with another.
Previous page
