The Jails Committee

WE owe it to the revelations made in the Bande Mataram case and the interest in Indian jail life evoked by them in influential quarters in England, particularly in Lord Olivier, that the Punjab Government has at last decided to appoint a committee to enquire into the conditions of prison life in this province. The committee will consist of OF Lumsden, a retired ICS officer and lately an officiating temporary additional judge of the Lahore High Court as president, and Mr Justice Jai Lal and Khan Bahadur Shaikh Abdul Qadir as members. The terms of reference are as follows: To enquire into allegations of the practice of unauthorised punishment and unauthorised indulgences in Punjab jails, and generally into the state of discipline among the staff and inmates and the adequacy and effectiveness of the supervision over both; and to propose remedies for defects and means of stopping malpractices. It is further announced that the committee will begin its proceedings on November 23 and will report its conclusions and recommendations to the local government and that it will be prepared to consider information placed before it by private persons. Our first word of comment in regard to the appointment of this committee must be that we do not know on what principle or what basis the three members of the committee have been chosen. They are all estimable persons, and we have not a word to say against any of them individually. But what positive qualifications can any of them claim for the highly important task which is entrusted to them?