Page 248 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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• No. 46, ».S»b F«biu»r/ 1876, Political The papers were also reported to the
A., April 1876, No. ioi. Secretary of State.*
354. Before acting on the orders of the Government of India, Mr. Thomson
referred the case to Her Majesty's Government for instructions. In a letter to
His Excellency the Viceroy, dated the 6th of June 1876, he explained that he
had deemed it prudent to take this course, because a doubt had arisen in his
mind as to the legal competency of the British Government to adjudicate in
such cases, not with reference to the right of jurisdiction enjoyed by it under
the 7th Article of the Treaty of Turkomanchai, but as regarded the respon­
sibility which would be incurred by a British official in giving a decision, the
legality of which might be disputed in an English Court of Law.
355. The Earl of Derby referred the points raised by Mr. Thomson to the
Marquis of Salisbury, who, in reply, expressed a hope that Lord Derby would
"agree with him in thinking that there is nothing in the circumstances of this
particular case which renders it necessary to discuss at present the perfectly general ques­
tion raised by Mr. Thomson as to the responsibility which would be incurred by a British
official in Persia, in the event of his adjudicating in a case between British subjects and
the validity of his award being disputed in the English Court of Law by the party to whom
the decision was adverse.
" As Lord Derby is aware, arrangements for placing on a sound basis the jurisdiction
of British officers in Persia are under consideration ; but some time is still likely to elapse
before they will be completed, and Lord Salisbury thinks it undesirable that, so far at
any rate as the Resident at Bushire is concerned any change should in the meantime
be made in the procedure which has been followed for many years with the assent of the
Persian Government, and without objection on the part of persons interested
Accordingly Mr. Thomson was instructed by Earl Derby to make arrange-
t Telegram, dated ajth July 1876, from Earl ments for sending the case to Bandar
Derby to Mr. Thomson Enaoiure 3 of despatch Abbas for adjudication by the Political
to Secretory of State, No. 4, doted 19th January n .. • . • f. ,
1877. Resident in accordance with usage, j
3^6. On the 31st of July 1876 a Gholam, named Ghaffar Beg, attached to
the British Legation at Tehran, was despatched with an order to the Governor
of Kerman, desiring that Marwareed should be sent with his books and vouchers
to Bandar Abbas.f Intimation of this
lettei^daTId"?”A°uHJi,t ^876'’EiTciMurr6"0^! having been communicated to Lieutenant-
d*e*patch to Secretary oY Sute/No.'Vdated 3i9th Colonel Pridcaux, he deputed Mr. J. C.
January 1877. Edwards, his Second Assistant, to conduct
lofficiating Political Reiident, Perjian Gulf,to the necessary enquiry. § Mr. Edwards
n.N°5-M arrived-at Bandar Abbas on the .oth of
of state, No. 4, dated 19th January *877. September, but found no prisoner there.
He accordingly proceeded to Minab, where
he learnt that the course of justice had been more turned aside by a successful
I See enciosuie 6 and 7 of deipatch'to Secretary atempt made by some of the Muham-
Of Su,«. No. d.,ed ,8,7. madans of Kerma'n t0 prevent Marwareed
being given up.||
357* Marwareed, it appears, had taken refuge with a Mujtehid, named
Hajee Aga Ahmed, and the Governor was compelled to resort to stratagem to
procure his arrest. On this being accomplished, an angry mob of Muhammadans
attacked, the Hindu caravanserai, seized one of its inmates, treated him some­
what roughly, and.only gave him up on Marwareed’s being made over to the
Mujtehid which quietness restored.
358. The Mujtehid then made overtures to the Gholam proposing a money
settlement of the demands against Marwareed. On the Gholam representing his
inability and insisting that it should be settled at Kerman, both the Mujtehid and
the Governor stated that the sympathy felt by the Muhammadan community at
Kerman for the defaulter would cause another disturbance if any attempt at re­
moving him was made. The failure of. the Governor to deal promptly with the
matter and send the convert to Bandar Abbas was attributed by the H indus to
a very different cause. They asserted that he had received money from Marwareed
which he was loath to part with, and that whilst he was assuming an anxiety 'to
carry out the orders sent him from Tehran, he was in reality siding with the
Mujtehid. Seeing that nothing could be done, Mr. Edwards returned to Bushire