Provision as to per dence. forfeiture, or misdemeanour, the offence shall be laid or alleged to have 6 All suits and prosecutions for anything done under or by virtue of this Act shall be commenced within the space of three years after the cause of complaint shall have arisen, or, being done in Great Britain, in the absence of any person beyond sea aggrieved thereby, then within the space of three years next after the return of such person to Great Britain' (33 Geo. III, c. 52, s. 162). 120.-(1) The Governor-General in Council and the sons sus- Governors in Council of Madras and Bombay respectively pected of dangerous may issue warrants for securing and detaining in custody any correspon- person suspected of carrying on mediately or immediately any [33 Geo. illicit correspondence dangerous to the peace or safety of any ÏÏÏ, c. 52, ss. 45, 46.1 part of British India with any prince, rajah, zemindar, or other person having authority in India, or with the commander, governor, or president of any factory or settlement established in India by a European power, or any correspondence contrary to the rules and orders of the Secretary of State or of the Governor-General in Council or Governor in Council. (2) If on examination taken on oath in writing of any credible witness before the Governor-General in Council or the Governor in Council there appear reasonable grounds for the charge, the governor-general or governor may commit the persons suspected or accused to safe custody, and must within a reasonable time, not exceeding five days, cause to be delivered to him a copy of the charge or accusation on which he is committed. (3) The person charged may deliver his defence in writing, with a list of such witnesses as he may desire to be examined in support thereof. (4) The witnesses in support of the charge and of the defence must be examined and cross-examined on oath in the presence of the person accused, and their depositions and examination must be taken down in writing. (5) If, notwithstanding the defence, there appear to the Governor-General in Council or Governor in Council reasonable grounds for the charge or accusation and for continuing the confinement, the person accused is to remain in custody until he is brought to trial in India or sent to England for that purpose. (6) All such examinations and proceedings or attested copies thereof under the seal of the high court must be sent to the Secretary of State as soon as may be in order to their being produced in evidence on the trial of the person accused in the event of his being sent for trial to England. (7) If any such person is to be sent to England the governorgeneral or governor, as the case may be, must cause him to be sent to England at the first convenient opportunity, unless he is disabled by illness from undertaking the voyage, in which case he must be so sent as soon as his state of health will safely admit thereof. (8) The examinations and proceedings transmitted in pursuance of this section are to be deemed and received as evidence in all courts of law, subject to any just exceptions as to the competency of the witnesses (a). (a) The provisions of the Act of 1793, reproduced by this section, have never been repealed. But no record has been found of any case in which they have been put into operation, and the cases which they were mainly designed to meet could probably be dealt with under other enactments. Powers of arrest and imprisonment for political offences are given by Bengal Regulation III of 1818, Madras Regulation II of 1819, Bombay Regulation XXV of 1827, Act XXXIV of 1850 (the State Prisoners Act, 1850), and Act III of 1858 (the State Prisoners Act, 1858). See In the matter of Ameer Khan, 6 Bengal Law Rep. 392. The Bombay Regulation was used in 1886 for the arrest of Dhuleep Singh at Aden, and has since (in 1897) been put in force in connexion with seditious proceedings at Poona. PART XII. Saving as to certain powers. [3 & 4 SUPPLEMENTAL. Savings. 121.-(1) Nothing in this Digest derogates from or inter rights and feres with the rights vested in His Majesty, or the powers vested in the Secretary of State in Council, in relation to the Government of British India, by any law in force at the passing of the Government of India Act, 1850. Will. IV, c. 85, s. 51. 24 & 25 Vict. c. (2) Nothing in this Digest affects the power of Parliament 67, s. 52.] to control the proceedings of the Governor-General in Council or of any local Government, or to repeal or alter any law or regulation made by any authority in British India, or to legislate for British India and the inhabitants thereof (a). Treaties, contracts, and lia bilities of East India (a) These savings, reproduced from the Acts of 1833 and 1861, are important as showing that the parliamentary enactments relating to India were never intended to be and cannot be construed as a complete code of the powers and rights exercisable by or with reference to the Government of India. 122.-(1) All treaties made by the East India Company are, so far as they are in force, binding on His Majesty (a). (2) All contracts made and liabilities incurred by the East Company. India Company may, so far as they are still outstanding, be [21 & 22 enforced by and against the Secretary of State in Council. 106, 8. 67.] (a) A treaty, unless confirmed by legislation, cannot affect private rights of British subjects in times of peace. Walker v. Baird, [1892] A. C. 492, 496. Vict. c. East India Vict. c. 123. All orders, regulations, and directions lawfully made Orders of or given by the Court of Directors of the East India Company, Company. or by the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, are, so far [21 & 22 as they are in force, to be deemed to be orders, regulations, 106, s. 59.] and directions made by the Secretary of State under the Government of India Act, 1858. Definitions. tions. 124. In this Digest the following expressions, unless the Definicontrary intention appears, have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them; namely, (1) The expression 'British India' means all territories and places within His Majesty's dominions which are for the time being governed by His Majesty through the Governor-General of India or through any governor or other officer subordinate to the Governor-General of India (a). (2) The expression India' means British India together (4) The expression local Government' means a Governor in (6) The expression Civil Service of India' means the (7) The expression office' includes place and employment. 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63. The Interpretation Act, 1889, applies to the construction of this Digest (e). (a) The definitions of 'British India' and 'India' follow those adopted in the Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63, s. 18), and in the Indian General Clauses Act, 1897 (X of 1897, s. 3 (7), (27)). British India corresponds to the territories which were in the Act of 1858 described as 'the territories in the possession of or under the government of the East India Company,' and which were then held by the Company in trust for the Crown. Aden is part of British India, and is included in the Bombay presidency. See the Aden Laws Regulation, 1891 (II of 1891). India, as distinguished from British India, includes also the territories of Native States, which used to be described in Acts of Parliament as the dominions of the princes and States of India in alliance with Her Majesty,' or in similar terms. See, e. g. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 67, s. 22; 28 & 29 Vict. c. 15, s. 3; 28 & 29 Vict. c. 17, s. 1; 53 & 54 Vict. c. 37, S. 15. The expression 'suzerainty' is substituted by the Interpretation Act for the older expression 'alliance,' as indicating more accurately the relation between the rulers of these States and the British Crown as the paramount authority throughout India. It is a term which is perhaps incapable of precise definition, but which is usefully employed to indicate the political authority exercised by one State over another, and approximating more or less closely to complete sovereignty. See Holland's Jurisprudence, ed. 7, pp. 45, 347, and below, Chapter v. The territories of the Native States are not part of the dominions of the King, but their subjects are, for international purposes, in the same position as British subjects. For instance, under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 37, s. 15), where an order made in pursuance of the Act extends to persons enjoying His Majesty's protection, that expression is to be construed as including all subjects of the several princes and States in India. And it is possible that a subject of a Native State would not be held to be an 'alien' within the meaning of the Naturalization Act, 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 14), so as to be capable of obtaining a certificate of naturalization under that Act. The expression prince or chief' seems wide enough to include the ruler or head-man, by whatever name called, of any petty tribe or clan or group, however rudimentary may be its political organization. But of course political authority may be so widely distributed among head-men or elders, or members of the tribe or group, as to make the task of finding an individual or collective 'sovereign' very difficult. This difficulty is to some extent met by s. 2 of the Imperial Foreign Jurisdiction Act (53 & 54 Vict. c. 37). It has sometimes been found difficult to determine whether a particular territory ought to be treated as part of British India, or of India in the wider sense, and questions have arisen as to the status of such |