IOR/F/4/1266/50907

The item consists of copies and extracts of correspondence, minutes and resolutions cited in, or enclosed with, letters to and from the Government of Bombay, the Government of Bengal and the Court of Directors of the East India Company. The item is chiefly concerned with the case of Nujeef Ally Khan [Najaf ʿAlī Khān Zand, Prince of Persia] who was charged with the murder of two sepoys in Paunvell [Panvel, India]. In particular, the item relates to:

• Debates between Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay, and John Romer, Member of the Council in the Government of Bombay, as to whether the Prince should be tried in the Criminal Court in the Northern Concan [Konkan] or whether, in consideration of his rank, alternative measures should be adopted to avoid insulting Persia
• The decision to detain the Prince as a state prisoner in the Fort at Tannah [Thane], before removing him to Bussorah [Basra] where he may continue as a liberated individual, with the condition that if he returns to Bombay he will be tried for the charges against him
• Discussions over whether the pension paid to the Prince by the East India Company should be continued in light of the charges against him
• Consideration of the primary investigations by the Criminal Judge at Tannah into the charges against the Prince
• Consideration of the merits and limitations of applying absolute English law in India without amending it to fit in with local practices
• Petitions by the mother of Nujeef Ally Khan regarding: his access to visitors whilst detained at Tannah; her request that members of his family and entourage are allowed to travel with him to Bussorah; her request that she will continue to receive an allowance once she arrives at Bussorah.

The principal correspondents in the item are William Newnham, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay, and his successor, Charles Norris. Other correspondents include: Sir Thomas Bradford, Commander in Chief, Bombay; William Clerk, Acting Persian Secretary; the General Paymaster and Accountant, Bombay; Edmund Montgomerie, Acting Assistant Criminal Judge, Tannah; the Secretary to the Supreme Government [Government of Bengal]; Major Stratford Powell, Acting Adjutant General of the Army, Bombay; Lieutenant-Colonel David Leighton, Commanding Residency Division of the Army, Bombay; Captain Thomas Stokoe, Commandant at Fort Tannah; James Farish, Civil Auditor, Bombay; the Political Agent at Bussora; and Sir Charles Malcolm, Superintendent of Marine, Bombay.

The title page of the item contains the following references: 'P.C. 980, Draft 38, 1832' and 'Examiner's Office 1830'.