- (1.) It is always a most unpleasant duty for a Judge to be compelled to vindicate his own honour, or the dignity of the Court over which he presides, by adopting measures which may cause pain, or wound the feelings of any man. Bat a Judge who would shrink from the discharge of what he considers to be his public duty, merely because it is to him a painful one, is not fit to be entrusted with the office which he holds. To me the duty which I am now called upon to perform is all the more painful, because the gentleman whose conduct is called into question is one with whom in times gone by I have held social and friendly intercourse. The case is one of public importance, and I am anxious that there shall be no misunderstanding of the views and opinions of the Judges and of the reasons which induced them to adopt the course which they have pursued. Above all, I am desirous that there shall be no further misrepresentations such as those with which unhappily we are called upon to deal. I have, therefore; thought it right to enter fully into the facts and law of the case, and I have reduced into' writing the greater portion of my judgment.
(2.) Mr. W. Tayler was formerly a member of the Bengal Civil Service. After his retirement he was admitted as a Vakeel of the late Sudder Court; and upon the amalgamation of the late Supreme and Sadder Courts, he, in common with all the Vakeels of the late Sudder Court, was enrolled as a Vakeel of the High Court. He subsequently carried on business as a Mooktear or law agent in the' District of Patna, in which, before his retirement from the Civil Service, he had acted as Commissioner. Among other clients, he was retained by Ranee Usmedh Kower, the elder Ranee of Ticaree, for two years, upon a retaining fee of Rs. 500 a month for looking after her suits, in addition to which he was to receive a reward for every case that he might win according to its importance. Matters did not proceed amicably between Mr. Tayler and the Ranee, and the result was that two suits were commenced--one by Mr. Tayler against the Ranee to recover a sum of Rs. 29,773, consisting of Rs. 20,910 alleged to be due for principal and interest on a bond given, as Mr. Tayler alleged, for fees due to him, and Rs. 8,000 and interest alleged by Mr. Tayler to be the balance due on account of his salary or retaining fee; the other by the Ranee against Mr. Tayler to recover money alleged to have been received by him on her account.
(3.) In the suit brought by Mr. Tayler, the Court held that the bond had been improperly obtained, and the result was, that Mr. Tayler's suit was dismissed with costs, and Rs. 6,110 were decreed to the Ranee in her cross-suit. The case Ranee Usmut Koowar v. Taylor 2 W.R. 307 is reported in the 2nd Volume, Weekly Reporter, page 307.;