"حياة ومراسلات اللواء السير جون مالكوم، قائد فرسان وسام الطُهر، المبعوث السابق إلى بلاد فارس وحاكم بومباي؛ من رسائل ومذكرات غير منشورة. في مجلّدين. المجلد II." [‎٥‎٠‎٨] (٦٥٤/٥٢٥)

THE BOMBAY GOVERNMENT.
thority, and that there was a thing called Haheas Corpus
that could bring Moroo Ragonath to the Presidency
within a given number of days. The process was very
simple. He had only to make an affidavit to the effect
that the boy was under personal restraint injurious to
his health, and a writ would be issued commanding his
body to be brought to Bombay.
The affidavit was made, and the writ was issued. It was
issued by Chambers and Grant. I need not dwell upon
the legal proceedings which then arose in the Supreme
Court. It is enough that the two judges contended,
when the question of jurisdiction was raised, that the
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was not legally limited
to the island and factories of Bombay; that the only
limitation had been a practical limitation, owing to the
want of means to extend the power of the Court; that as
the judges could not hear and determine criminal cases
without the intervention of a jury, and as a jury could
only be obtained by the Sheriff of Bombay, whose autho
rity was limited by the charter, the judges could not try
such cases out of Bombay " for want of machinery to do
sobut that if the power of the sheriff were extended
in such a manner as to surmount this difficulty, the Court
might exercise criminal jurisdiction all over the terri
tories subject to the Presidency of Bombay. This argu
ment being admitted, it necessarily followed that in all
proceedings, not requiring the intervention of a jury,
the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Bombay ex
tended over the whole Presidency, and that every one
residing within the Company's territories was subject to
it, without distinction of color or creed, occupation or
condition.
In the wildest moments of the hottest youth of the
Supreme Court of Calcutta, neither Sir Elijah Impey nor
Brother Hyde had ever contended that the jurisdiction
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