Vol. 13 · pages 521–525

ARTICLE 52 [Article 52 was adopted without discussion and added to the Constitution.] ARTICLE 53 *Mr. Vice-President : Then we come to article 53. Amendment No. 1201 is being disallowed because it has the effect of a negative vote. Amendments Nos. 1202 and 1203 seem to be identical and I therefore allow amendment No. 1202 to be moved. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “That in article 53 for the words ‘or position of emolument’ the words ‘of profit’ be substituted.” Mr. Vice-President : Then No. 1204 standing in the name of Mr. Mohd. Tahir. Mr. Mohd. Tahir : I am not moving it, Sir. Mr. Vice-President : Then amendment No. 1205 standing in the name of Dr. Ambedkar. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “That to the proviso to article 53, the following be added : — ‘and shall not be entitled to any salary or allowance payable to the Chairman of the Council of States under article 79 of this Constitution.’” The provision is intended to prevent making a double profit. Mr. Vice-President : There is one amendment sent in by Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad, No. 33. This is formal and is disallowed. Now I am putting these amendments to vote. Has any Member anything to say on these amendments ? Shri H. V. Kamath : On a point of information, Sir, with reference to amendment No. 1205, will the Vice-President, when he acts as President, draw the salary and allowances of the President or those of the Vice-President only ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The salary of the President. salary of the office. Mr. Vice-President : Then I am putting these amendments to vote. I shall put No. 1202 standing in the name of Dr. Ambedkar. The question is : “That in article 53, for the words ‘or position of emolument’ the words ‘of profit’ be substituted.” The amendment was adopted. * CAD, Vol. VII, 28th December 1948, pp. 1088-89. 488 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

Mr. Vice-President : Do you want me to put your amendment to vote, Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad, which is identical with the previous one ? Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : No, Sir. Vice-President : Then I shall put to vote amendment No. 1205. The question is : “That to the proviso to article 53. the following be added :— ‘and shall not be entitled to any salary or allowance payable to the Chairman of the Council of States under article 79 of this Constitution’.” The amendment was adopted. Article 53, as amended, was adopted and added to the constitution. ARTICLE 54 *Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Sir, I beg to move : “That in clause (1) of article 54. for the words ‘date on which’, the words ‘time when’ be substituted.” (Speech of N.A.) Mr. Vice-President : ...Amendments Nos. 1211 and 1210 are of similar import but the former is more comprehensive and may be moved. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir. I move : “That to clause (3) of article 54. the following be added:— ‘and be entitled to such privileges, emoluments and allowances as may be determined by Parliament by law and until provision in that behalf is so made, such privileges, emoluments and allowances as are specified in the Second Schedule’.” This merely makes good an omission in the Draft Constitution. ***** The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Mr. Vice-President, I find that in the amendments that have been moved there are really three points which have been raised. One point which has been raised by my friend Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad relates to time. We all know by now how very meticulous my friend Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad is and he wants to have the Constitution specifically state the time when a President frees himself from office and another persons takes over that office. I do not know whether so much meticulousness is necessary in this Constitution. However, what I find difficult to accept in the amendment which he has moved is that he has not particularised what is system of timing which he has in mind. Is it the Greenwich time, the Standard time, the Bombay or Calcutta time?.........† *CAD, Vol. VII, 28th December 1948, pp. 1089-92. †Dots in the original debates indicate interruption. 489DRAFT CONSTITUTION

Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I mean the actual time of appointment. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : What is the time may be very different. Unless he prescribes the system I do not think that the introduction of the word ‘time’ introduces any greater clarity or definiteness at all. Secondly, so tar as this particular clause is concerned 1 find that his amendment is quite unnecessary, because if he will read subclause(1) of article 54 he will see that it is stated “to fill such vacancy enters upon his office”. Surely the entering upon office will he at sometime in the day—it may be midnight or it may be 12 o’clock in the day therefore time is specified so to say by implication and this amendment is therefore quite unnecessary……….* Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : The clause provides that the VicePresident shall act until the ‘date’ on which the new President enters upon his office and not the time when lie does so. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Surely it will be sometime on some day on which he will enter the office. He may probably consult an astrologer to find out what is the auspicious moment. However, the amendment is quite unnecessary. My friend Mr. Kamath said that in replying to the debate on the previous article I stated or rather in moving my amendment I stated that the Vice-President when acting as the President shall have the same emoluments as the President. He found some difficulty in reconciling that statement with the amendment which I have moved, which gives the Parliament the power to fix the salary of the Vice-President when acting as the President. If my Friend Mr. Kamath were to turn to page 161 of the Draft Constitution he will find that there is a schedule fixing the salary of the President and paragraph 5 of that schedule definitely provides for the salary of the President. Surely when a person is acting as the President, no matter at what early stage in life he has climbed to that post, he will be entitled to get that salary according to this Constitution. But it was felt that it might be necessary to leave the matter to Parliament to fix a different scale of salary for a person who is assuming the office of the President expressly for a very short duration. Parliament may not like to give him the same salary, because the tenure of his office is certainly not of the same duration as that of the President himself. Consequently, if Parliament makes no *Dots in the original debates indicate interruptions. 490 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

provision, then he gets the salary of the President. But Parliament may make provision to give him a different salary. It is for that purpose the amendment has been moved. Shri H. V. Kamath : Sir, may I invite the attention of my Honourable Friend Dr. Ambedkar to article 48 clause (4) which lays down that the emoluments and allowances of the President shall not be diminished during his term of office ? Am I to understand that you make a distinction between the Vice-President acting as President and the President ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Yes, certainly. Shri H. V. Kamath : Sir, Just now when I raised objection to an amendment to the last article. Dr. Ambedkar said that the VicePresident shall draw the salary and allowances of the President while acting as President. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Unless Parliament otherwise provides, the Vice-Presidents gets the salary of the President when he acts for him. There is no reason why Parliament should not be given authority to fix the scales of pay of a President who may be there for a short duration. Pandit Bhargava raised another point and that was to the effect that there was no provision for the impeachment of the Vice-President when acting as President. Obviously, when a Vice-President becomes the President, all the duties and obligations which are imposed upon the President fall upon him without making any express mention of the fact at all. If during his tenure of office as President, the Vice-President commits any of the offences or acts which expose the President to the risk of being impeached, he will not have any kind of immunity by reason of the fact that he is either a Vice-President or is acting as President, pro tempore. There is therefore no necessity for making any provision for it. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Mr. Vice-President, may I ask……… The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I do not submit myself to any cross examination at this stage. Mr. Vice-Pesident : Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad may go back to his seat. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I want to draw the attention of the Honourable Dr. Ambedkar to an oversight. 491DRAFT CONSTITUTION

Mr. Vice-President : He refuses to listen to it. What can I do ? I cannot compel him to listen. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : No one can compel him. The point is that in clause (3) of article 54………. Mr. Vice-President : I am going to put the amendment to vote. Dr. Ambedkar has said that he will not give any reply. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I hope he will reconsider the matter. Mr. vice-President: I have not called upon Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad to speak. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Sir, I want only to draw the attention of the House to a point which might influence the votes. Mr. Vice-President : Why not do so at the third reading stage ? I am going to put the amendment to vote. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : But, Sir, this is a matter of great importance. Mr. Vice-President : You think so. May I ask you respectfully to go back to your seat ? Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I shall comply with your request. Mr. Vice-President: I shall now put amendment No. 1205 standing in the name of Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad to vote. The amendment was negatived. [Amendment by Dr. Ambedkar as mentioned earlier was adopted.] Article 54, as amended, was adopted and added to the constitution. ***** ARTICLE 55 ***** *Mr. Vice-President : ... Amendment No. 1224 Dr. Ambedkar. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move. “That in clause (2) of article 55. for the words ‘either of Parliament or’ the words ‘of either House of Parliament or of a House ‘for the words’ member of Parliament or ‘the words ‘member of either House of Parliament or of a House’, and for the words ‘in Parliament or such Legislature, as the case may be’ the words ‘in that Houe’ be substituted respectively.” This is only to improve the language. There is no point of substance in it. ***** *CAD, Vol. VII, 28th December 1948, p. 1095. 492 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES