Graeme v Wroughton
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 04 June 1855 |
| Date | 04 June 1855 |
| Court | Exchequer |
English Reports Citation: 156 E.R. 780
IN THE COURTS OF EXCHEQUER AND EXCHEQUER CHAMBER
S. C. 24 L. J. Ex. 265; 3 W. R. 509.
[146] graeme v, WROUGHTON. June 4, 1855 -The resignation for a pecuniary consideration of the position of major in a regiment in the East Liidia Company's service, is illegal by the 49 Geo 3, c. 126, s. 4, and security for payment of the money is void : Per Pollock, C. B., Alderson, B., Martin, B -Platt, B., clubitante. [S. C. 24 L J. Ex. 26rj; 3 W. R. 509.] Declaration on a bond with condition (after reciting that the defendant had borrowed of the plaintiff 400 rupees,) for payment by the defendant to the plaintiff of the 400 rupees (3661. 13s. 4d.) and interest Breach : nonpayment. 11 EX 147. GRAEME V. WROUGHTON 781 Plea That, beloie and at the time of the making of the bond, the defendant was a British subject, resident in the East Indies, holding and exercising an employment in the East India Company's serMce in the East Indies, that is to say, as lieutenant in the regiment of the 5th Native Cavalry (Madras), and the plaintiff was then also a, British subject, and a resident in the East Indies, holding and exercising an employment in the East Indies in the seivice ot the said company, that is to say, as senior captain in the said regiment, and that one Alexander Giant \\as then also a, Biitish subject, and resident in the East Indies, and holding and exeicising an employment in the service of the said company in the East Indies, that is to say, as major in the same regiment , and that by a certain Act of Parliament it was enacted, amongst other things (;i3 Geo. '3, c. 52, t 02), that the demanding or receiving any sum or money, or other valuable thing, as a gift 01 present, or undei colour thereof, whether it be for the use of the party receiving the same, or for, or pietended to be for, the use of the said company, 01 any other person whatsoever, by any British subject holding or exercising any office or employment under his Majesty or the said United Company in the East Indies, shall be deemed and taken to be extortion and a misdemeanor at law, and shall be proceeded against and punished as such, under and by virtue of that Act; and the offender shall also forfeit to the [147] king's majesty, his heirs and successors, the whole gift or present so received, or the full value thereof: And it was thereby further enacted (sect. 66), that the making or entering into, or being a party to, any corrupt bargain or contract for the giving up, or for obtaining, or m any other manner touching or concerning, the trust and duty of any office or employment under the Crown, or the said United Company in the East Indies, by any British subject whomsoever there resident, shall be deemed and taken to be a misdemeanor at law, and shall be proceeded against and prosecuted as such by virtue of that Act And the defendant further says, that it was, after the coming into operation of the said Act of Parliament and whilst the said several enactments were in full force and effect, corruptly and against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, agreed by and between the plaintiff and the defendant and the said A. Grant, and divers other officers of the said regiment and in the said service subordinate to the said A Grant, being British subjects and resident in the East Indies, and whilst they held and exercised such employments in the East Indies, that the plaintiff" and the defendant and the said other officers should subscribe and pay to, and that the said A. Grant should accept from them, a certain large sum of money, to wit, as a gift or present, to wit, for Iris own use, to induce the said A Grant, and on condition that the said A Grant should thereupon give up and relinquish his said office and employment, and retire from the said regiment and create a vacancy of major therein, which office was so held by him as aforesaid, and so occasion a step for promotion in the same regiment: And the defendant says that the other said officers, arid that the plaintiff for himself and for and on behalf of the defendant, and by way of loan from the plaintiff to the defendant, as hereinafter mentioned, subscribed and paid to the said [148] A Grant, and the said A. Grant then accepted from them as aforesaid the sard sum of money, as a gift or present, upon the terms and conditions aforesaid ; and that thereupon and in pursuance of the said agreement the said A Grant gave up and relinquished his said office and employment and retired from the said regiment, and thereby created a vacancy therein, which vacancy thereupon, and in consequence of the said letirement, was filled up by the plaintiff, who thereupon, and in consequence thereof, became and obtained the rank of a major in the said regiment, in the place of the said A. Grant so giving up as aforesaid, and a step was consequently created in the said regiment in respect of the subordinate officers in the said regiment under the said rank of major. And the defendant further says, that before and at the time of the making of the said agreement, and before and at the time when the plaintiff contributed and paid and made such payment as aforesaid for and on behalf of the defendant and at the request of the defendant, because the defendant had not the means therewith to subscribe and contribute as aforesaid, it was corruptly, and against the form of the statute in sut h case made and provided, agreed by and between the plaintiff and defendant, that the plaintiff should make such payment and contribution aforesaid for the defendant by way of loan to the defendant as aforesaid, and that the defendant should execute and deliver to the plaintiff the bond in the declaration mentioned for the consideration aforesaid, and as a security for the repayment of such loan by the defendant to plaintiff". And the defendant fuither says, that the bond in the declaration mentioned 782 GRAEME V. WROUGHTON 11 EX. 149 executed by the defendant, and delivered by him to the plaintiff, in pursuance of the premises, and upon the consideration and conditions aforesaid, and for and on account and as a security for the repayment of the said...
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Eyre v Forbes
...and knowingly aid, abet, or assist such person therein, shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a misdemeanour." In CWwie v. IPrmigkton, 11 Exch. 146, it was expressly decided that the resignation for a pecuniary consideration of the position of major in a regiment in the East India Company'......