Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/153

 equalities, lawyers and men of affairs of great repute and good standing and both men of dominating personality/ Some of the witnesses who gave evidence for the Plaintiff are also persons of considerable standing. It is difficult to understand how these men, with no object to gain and no interest to serve, could be supposed to have entered into the conspiracy and committed the perjury which the High Court judgment found. The conclusion come to by the learned Judges {is) entirely unwarranted on the facts.

"Large masses of irrelevant matter (have been introduced in the Judgment of the High Court Judges). In July 1903 proceedings were begun to revoke the probate granted to the trustees and subsequently criminal proceedings were instituted in respect of perjury. Their Lordships regret to observe that not only are the circumstances with regard to the criminal proceedings referred to in the present litigation by the parties but that the depositions therein, become matter apparently of materiality in the judgment of the learned judges of the High Court.

"This was an irregularity of a somewhat serious character. Particularly the depositions in the Criminal Case seem to have been imported in bulk into the present. There is a risk, by such procedure, of justice being prevented. A civil cause must be conducted in the ordinary way and judged of by the evidence led therein. The depositions could not have been used to support the evidence of the Plaintiff. There (is) no warrant for using them for the purpose of either contradicting or discounting the evidence. It was stated to their Lord-