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(i) Nehru has advised that Buggu and Ratachand of Amritsar have been arrested and sentenced to death by court martial; that both trial and sentence were illegal under Regulation X; that Nehru has been instructed to appeal to the Privy Council; and that Chelmsford has refused to stay execution pending appeal. Asks Chelmsford to advise him of the facts.

(ii) The execution of Ratachand, Buggu, and the other three convicts has been postponed, pending further communication from Montagu.

(Two cuttings from larger documents, pinned to a blank sheet.)

The situation in Calcutta is disturbing. Large numbers of people have been imprisoned for breaching the order forbidding volunteer associations; weapons have been discovered near the Khilafat Committee’s offices; and there is disaffection amongst sections of the police. Lajpat Rai and Motilal Nehru have been arrested for organizing volunteer forces. It is clear that the non-co-operationists are testing their power by compelling the authorities to arrest large numbers of people and thus paralysing Government. It is a formidable situation, particularly in view of the Prince’s arrival on the 24th. The increasing tension between non-co-operationists and co-operationists is worrying in a city with a strong European element, still smarting under the 17 November incident. The Governor and Council have decided to arrest C. R. Das and other leaders, and Reading has requested further troops. Das has met with Ronaldshay and requested an immediate conference, stating that non-co-operationists will be satisfied only with complete swaraj immediately; but under the circumstances Reading considers that it would do harm even to discuss a conference.

(Typed.)

Refers to A3/12/4, and apologises for the delay in replying. The decision whether rigorous or simple imprisonment should be awarded for offences depends on the law and the discretion of the magistrate, but in many provinces political prisoners are accorded special treatment. He has suggested to Local Governments that simple imprisonment will be sufficient in many cases. He does not think it possible to detain prisoners in any other places than jails. He is aware of the desirability of avoiding the arrest of women. Clarifies the law as to picketing. Nehru was given six months’ simple imprisonment under the Criminal Law Amendment Act and is be-ing treated as a first class misdemeanant.

(Typed.)

Accepts Reading’s analysis of the political situation, but he reiterates his opposition to sentencing political offenders to rigorous imprisonment, and cautions against the arrest of women. ‘I do not know what has happened to Motilal Nehru, but he is a well educated barrister whose mind has been perverted originally by bitter resentment at his exclusion from Club life in the United Provinces. I do hope that he will not find himself suffering rigorous imprisonment.’ Asks for an explanation of what ‘picketing’, in the sense that it deserves six months’ imprisonment, means. A conference is inevitable one day, he thinks, but not on the basis proposed by Das.

(Typed.)

The Home Department telegraphed on the 3rd acknowledging the difficulties of early and separate publication, and advising that the publication of the Congress report seems to have fallen flat. Copies of the [Hunter] Report have been sent to Montagu by mail, and the terms of the draft resolution are being sent by cable and mail. With regard to the postponement of executions, the Congress appear to have acted purely on inference. Nehru wired asking for suspension of the sentence on 6 June, and he was told of Government’s refusal on the 8th, but petitions for mercy from condemned prisoners were held up for orders till 3 July to give parties time. In the mean time Nehru had appealed to Montagu, and communications were sent [to Nehru?] suggesting that the postponement had been suggested by Montagu.

(Typed.)

Part 3. Is disturbed by the statement by Butler cited in A3/12/5, which was taken without consultation and appears to have had little effect in calming agitation in the United Provinces. He dislikes subjecting men like Nehru and Das to rigorous imprisonment, but exceptions cannot be made in their favour when they are the chief offenders. Refers to A3/12/4. It is not presently practicable to constitute separate jails for political prisoners, and there is always the danger that they might increase the numbers of persons courting arrest. Acknowledges the extreme undesirability of arresting women, but observes that it is sometimes impossible to avoid, as in the case of Mrs C. R. Das.

(Typed. Continued from A3/14/6.)