Vol. 13 · pages 131–135

(b) to reside in India for at least a month before the declaration. Articles 7 to 27 5. Fundamental Rights.—The Committee has attempted to make these rights and the limitations to which they must necessarily be subject as definite as possible, since the courts may have to pronounce upon them. Article 59 6. Powers of the President of the Union.—The Committee has considered it desirable to provide that the President should have power to suspend, remit or commute death sentences passed in an Indian State, as in other Units, without prejudice to the powers of the Ruler. Article 278 It will be remembered that the new Constitution empowers the Governor, in certain circumstances, to issue a proclamation suspending certain provi- sions of the Constitution; he can do so only for a period of two weeks and is required to report the matter to the President. The Committee has provid- ed that upon receipt of the report the President may either revoke the proclamation or issue a fresh pro- clamation of his own, the effect of which will be to put the Central Executive in the place of the State Executive and the Central Legislature in the place of the State Legislature. In fact, the State con- cerned will become a centrally administered area for the duration of the proclamation. This replaces the “Section 93 regime” under the Act of 1935. Article 60 7. Executive Power in respect of Concurrent List subjects.—Under the present Constitution, executive authority in respect of a Concurrent List subject vests in the Province subject in certain matters to the power of the Centre to give direc- tions as to how the executive authority shall be exer- cised, vide Parts I & II of the Concurrent Legisla- tive List in the Seventh Schedule to the Govern- ment of India Act, 1935. In the Draft Constitu- tion the Committee has departed slightly from this plan and has provided that the executive power shall vest in the Province (now called the State) ”save as expressly provided in this Constitution or by any law made by Parliament.” The effect of this saving clause is that it will be open to the Union 130 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, FEB. 26,1948 98 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

Parliament under the new Constitution to confer executive power on Union authorities, or, if neces- sary, to empower Union authorities to give directions as to how executive power shall be exercised by State authorities. In making this provision the Com- mittee has kept in view the principle that executive authority should for the most part be co-extensive with legislative power. Article 67 8. Composition of the Council of States.— According to a decision taken by the Constituent Assembly, the Council of States was to contain not more than 25 members (out of a total not exceed- ing 250) to be elected from panels or constituencies on a functional basis. The panel system having hitherto proved unsatisfactory in the country from which it was copied (Ireland), the Committee has thought it best to provide for 15 members to be nominated by the President for their special know- ledge or practical experience in Literature, Art, Science, etc. The Committee considers that no special representation for labour or commerce and industry among these nominations is necessary, in view of the fact that they are certain to be adequate- ly represented in the elected element of the Union Parliament owing to adult suffrage. Articles 63 and 151. 9. Duration of Union Parliament and of State Legislatures.—The Committee considers that under the parliamentary system, particularly at the beginning of a new Constitution on the basis of adult suffrage, a longer term than four years is desirable. New ministers require some time to acquaint themselves with the details of administra- tion, and their last year of office is usually taken up in preparing for the next general election. With a four-year term they will not have enough time for any kind of planned administration. Articles 107 and 200 10. Supreme Court and High Courts.—Follow- ing the practice prevailing in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, the Committee has proposed that in certain circumstances retired judges may be invited to serve in particular cases both in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts. Article 131. 11. Mode of selection of Governors.—Some members of the Committee feel that the co-existence THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, FEB. 26,1948 131 99THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

of a Governor elected by the people and a Chief Minister responsible to the Legislature might lead to friction. The Committee has therefore suggested an alternative mode of appointing Governors: the Legislature should elect a panel of four persons (who need not be residents of the State) and the Pre- sident of the Union should appoint one of the four as Governor. Article 138. 12. Deputy Governors.—The Committee has not thought it necessary to make any provision for Deputy Governors, because a Deputy Governor will have no function to perform so long as the Governor is there. At the Centre, the position is different, because the Vice-President is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States; but in most of the States there will be no Upper House and it will not be possible to give the Deputy Governor func- tions similar to those of the Vice-President. There is a provision in the Draft enabling the Legislature of the State (or the President) to make necessary arrangements for the discharge of the functions of the Governor in any unforeseen contingency. Articles 212 to 214. 13. Centrally administered areas.—In accord- ance with a resolution of the Constituent Assembly, you, as the President, appointed a Committee of seven members for the purpose of recommending con- stitutional changes in the centrally administered areas namely, Delhi, Ajiner-Merwara, Coorg, Panth Piploda and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Committee submitted its report on October 21, 1948. The Committee’s recommendations were briefly these:— (1) Each of the provinces of Delhi, Ajmer- Merwara and Coorg should have a Lieutenant-Governor appointed by the President of India. (2) Each of these provinces should normally be administered by a Council of minis- ters responsible to the Legislature. (3) Each of these provinces should have an elected Legislature. As regards Panth Piploda the Committee recom- mended that it should be added to Ajmer-Merwara and as regards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands 132 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, FEB. 26,1948 100 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

the Committee recommended that they should con- tinue to be administered by the Government of India as at present, with such adjustments as might be deemed necessary: in other words, these Islands were to continue as a Chief Commissioner’s pro- vince. The member representing Ajmer-Merwara and the member representing Coorg on this Com- mittee appended a note to the Committee’s re- port, in which they said that the special problems arising out of the smallness, geographical position and scantiness of resources of these areas might at no distant future necessitate the joining of each of these areas to a contiguous unit. They therefore urged that there should be a specific provision in the Constitution to make this possible after ascertaining the wishes of the people concerned. So far as Delhi is concerned, it seems to the Com- mittee that as the capital of India it can hardly be placed under a local administration. In the United States, Congress exercises exclusive legislative power in respect of the seat of the Government; so too in Australia. The Drafting Committee has, therefore, come to the conclusion that a more comprehensive plan than that recommended by the ad hoc Committee is desirable. Accordingly, the Drafting Committee has proposed that these central areas may be admi- nistered by the Government of India either through a Chief Commissioner or a Lieutenant- Governor or through the Governor or the Ruler of a neighbouring State. What is to be done in the case of a particular area is left to the President to pres- cribe by order; he will, of course, in this, as in other matters, act on the advice of responsible ministers. He may, if so advised, have a Lieutenant-Governor in Delhi; he may, again, if so advised, administer Coorg either through the Governor of Madras or through the Ruler of Mysore after ascertaining the wishes of the people of Coorg. He may also by order create a local Legislature or a Council of advisers with such constitution, powers and functions, in each case, as may be specified in the order. This seems to the Drafting Committee to be a flexible plan which can be adjusted to the diverse require- ments of the areas concerned. The Committee has also provided that Indian States (such as those of the Orissa group) which have ceded full and exclusive authority, jurisdicTHE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, FEB. 26,1948 133 101THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION

tion and powers to the Central Government may be administered exactly as if they were Centrally Ad- ministered Areas, i.e., through a Chief Commis- sioner, or Lieutenant-Governor, or through the Governor or the Ruler of a neighbouring State, according to the requirements of each case. Articles 216 to 232. 14. Distribution of Legislative Powers.—For the most part, the Drafting Committee has made no change in the Legislative Lists as recommended by the Union Powers Committee and adopted by the Constituent Assembly, but I would draw attention to three matters in respect of which the Drafting Com- mittee has made changes: (a) The Committee has provided in effect that when a subject, which is normally in the State List, assumes national importance, then the Union Parliament may legislate upon it. To prevent any unwarranted encroachment upon State powers, it has been provided in the Draft that this can be done only if the Council of States, which may be said to represent the States as Units, passes a resolution to that effect by a two-thirds majority. (b) The Committee has considered it desirable to put into the Concurrent List the whole subject of succession, instead of only succession to property other than agricul- tural land. Similarly, the Committee has put into the Concurrent List all the matters in respect of which parties are now governed by their personal law. This will facilitate the enactment of a uniform law for India in these matters. (c) While putting land acquisition for the pur poses of the Union into the Union List and land acquisition for the purposes of a State into the State List, the Committee has provided that the principles on-which compensation for acquisition is to be determined shall in all cases be in the Concurrent List, in order that there may be some uniformity in this matter. 134 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY, FEB. 26,1948 102 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES