Vol. 13 · pages 626–630

Mr. President : There have been two amendments moved. Both have been accepted by Dr.Ambedkar. I will now put them to the vote. “That with reference to amendment No. 1883 of the List of amendments, in clause (1) of article 106, after the words ‘ Chief Justice may ’ the words ‘ with the previous consent of the President and ’ be inserted.” “ That in clause (1) of article 106, after the words ‘ High Court’ where they occur for the second time, the words ‘duly qualified for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court’ be inserted.” Folling amendments were adopted. [Both the above amendments were accepted. Article 106, as amended, was added to the constitution] ***** ARTICLE 107 Mr. President : Amendment No. 1884. This is a negative amendment. So I rule it out. Amendment No. 1885. That question has been decided. So this need not be moved. Shri Jaspat Roy Kapoor : I am not moving amendment No. 1886 as there is another amendment on the same lines. Mr. President: Amendment No. 1887 is more or less a verbal amendment. So it need not be moved. *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I beg to move: “That in article 107 the words ‘ subject to the provisions of this article ’ be deleted.” Those words are quite unnecessary. Shri T. T. Krishnamachari : I move : “ That in article 107, in line 3, after the words ‘ at any time ’, the words ‘ with the previous consent of the President’ be inserted.” (Amendment Nos. 1889 and 1890 were not moved.) ***** †Mr. President : We have now the amendments and the article for discussion. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I accept amendment 125 moved by Shri T. T. Krishnamachari. The amendment was adopted. ***** ARTICLE 108 ‡The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Mr. President, Sir, I move : “That for amendment No. 1891 of the List of Amendments, the following be substituted :— “That for article 108, the following articles be substituted : 108. The Supreme Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself. * CAD, Vol. VIII, 27th May 1949, p.377. † Ibid p. 377. ‡ Ibid, p. 379. 593DRAFT CONSTITUTION

108-A. The Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or at such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.” Sir, after the general debate, I will say why the amendment that I am moving is necessary. ***** *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Mr. President, the amendment which I have moved covers practically all the points which have been raised both by Mr. Kamath as well as by Mr. Jaspat Roy Kapoor. Sir, the new article 108 is necessary because we have not made any provision in the Draft Constitution to define the status of the Supreme Court. If the House will turn to article, 192, they will find exactly a similar article with regard to the High Courts in India. It seems therefore necessary that a similar provision should be made in the Constitution in order to define the position of the Supreme Court. I do not wish to take much time of the House in saying what the words ‘ a court of record ’ mean. I may briefly say that a court of record is a court the records of which are admitted to be of evidentiary value and they are not to be questioned when they are produced before any court. That is the meaning of the words ‘court of record’. Then, the second part of article 108 says that the court shall have the power to punish for contempt of itself. As a matter of fact, once you make a court a court of record by statute, the power to punish for contempt necessarily follows from that position. But, it was felt that in view of the fact that in England tills power is largely derived from Common Law and as we have no such thing as Common Law in this Country, we felt it better to state the whole position in the statute itself. That is why article 108 has been introduced. With regard to article 108-A, Mr. Kamath raised a point as to why the word Delhi should occur. The answer is very simple. A court must have a defined place where it shall sit and the litigants must know where to go and whom to approach. Consequently, it is necessary to state in the statute itself as to where the court should sit and that is why the word Delhi is necessary and is introduced for that purpose. The other words which occur in article 108-A are introduced because it is not yet defined whether the capital of India shall continue to be Delhi. If you do not have the words which follow, “ or at such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, * CAD, Vol. VIII, 27th May 1949, p. 382. 594 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

from time to time, appoint “then, what will happen is this. Supposing the capital of India was changed, we would have to amend the Constitution in order to allow the Supreme Court to sit at such other place which Parliament may decide as the capital. Therefore, I think the subsequent ward are necessary. With regard to the point raised by my honourable Friend Mr. Kapoor. I think the answer given by my friend Mr. Krishnamachari is adequate and I do not propose to say any more. ***** *Shri Jaspat Roy Kapoor : May I seek a small clarification from Dr. Ambedkar ? Will it be open to the Supreme Court so long as it is sitting in Delhi, to have a circuit court anywhere else in this country simultaneously ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Yes, certainly. A circuit court is only a Bench. [Amendments of Dr. Ambedkar were accepted. Rest rejected. Article 108 and 108-A as amended, were added to the Constitution.] ***** †The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I want articles 109 to 114 be held over. The reason why I want these articles to be held over is because these articles while they state general rules, also make certain reservations with regard to the States in Part III of Schedule I. It is understood that the matter as to the position of the States in Part III is being reconsidered, so that the States in Part III will be brought on the same level and footing as the States in Part I. If that happens, then, there will be no necessity to introduce these reservations in these articles 109—114. I suggest these may be held over. Mr. President : We will pass them over for the present. ***** ‡Mr. President : Amendment No. 1939, in the name of Dr. Ambedkar. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : ‘“That in article 115. the words and brackets ‘ (which relates to the enforcement of fundamental rights)’ he deleted.” The words are superflous. Mr. President : No. 1940 is the same as the one just now moved and so need not be moved. No. 1941 standing in the name of Mr. * CAD, Vol. VIII, 27th May 1949, p. 383. † Ibid, pp. 383-84. ‡ Ibid., p. 385. 595DRAFT CONSTITUTION

Naziruddin Ahmad is also of a drafting nature and need not be moved No. 1942 is not moved. I think these are the amendments that we have now. Does any Member wish to say anything ? We shall now put the amendments. I will first take Dr. Ambedkar’s amendment No. 1939 (mentioned above). The amendment was adopted. [Dr. Bakshi Tek Chand’s amendment to amendment No. 1938, as given below was also adopted.] “That in article 115, for the words ‘ or orders in the nautre of the writs ’ the words ‘ orders or writs, including writs in the nature ’ be substituted. ” [Article 115, as amended, was added to the Constitution.] ***** ARTICLE 117 *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, there is one point which I should like to mention. It is not certainly the intention of the proposed article that the Supreme Court should be bound by its own decision like the House of Lords. The Supreme Court would be free to change its decision and take a different view from the one which it had taken before. So far as the language is concerned I am quite satisfied that the intention is carried out. Shri H. V. Kamath : Then why not say “ all other courts ” ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : “ All courts ” means “ all other courts.” [Article 117 was adopted without amendment and added to the Constitution.] ***** ARTICLE 119 †Mr. President: Amendment No. 1951 is ruled out. Shri H. V. Kamath : Sir, the point which I wish to raise in my amendment No. 1952 is a simple one. The article contemplates that the Supreme Court should report to the President its opinion or in its discretion it may with held its opinion. I believe what is meant is that when once the President refers the matter to the Supreme Court for its opinion there is no option for the Supreme Court. If that is not meant then the language is right. But if it is meant that once the President refers the matter to the Supreme Court it must report its opinion thereon to the President, then the word “shall” must come in. I wanted a clarification on that point. * CAD, Vol. VIII, 27th May 1949, p. 386. † Ibid p. 387. 596 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The Supreme court is not bound. Shri H. V. Kamath : Then I do not move my amendment. ***** *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : May I request you, Sir, to hold over this article 119, because it has also reference to article 109 to 114 which we have decided to hold over. Shri H. V. Kamath : Then, Sir, I shall reserve my right to move the amendment later on. ***** ARTICLE 121 †The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I would request Sir, that this article be allowed to stand over. ARTICLE 122 The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “ That for the existing article 122, the following be substituted :— ‘ 122. Officers and servants and the expenses of the Supreme Court. —(1) Appointments of officers and servants of the Supreme Court shall be made by the chief Justice of India or such other judge or officer of court as he may direct: Provided that the President may by rule require that in such cases may be specified in the rule, no person not already attached to the court shall be appointed to any office connected with the court, save after consultation with the Union Public Service Commission. (2) Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of service of officers and servants of the Supreme court shall be such as may be prescribed by rules made by the Chief Justice of India or by some other judge or officer of the court authorised by the Chief Justice of India to make rules for the purpose : Provided that the salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of such officers and servants shall be fixed by the chief Justice of India in consultation with the President. (3) The administrative expenses of the Supreme Court, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the officers and servants of the court, shall be charged upon the revenues of India, and any fees or other moneys taken by the court shall form part of those revenues.’ ” The object of this redraft is to make a better provision for the independence of the Supreme Court and also to make provision that the administrative expenses of the Supreme Court shall be a charge on the revenues of India. Sir, there is an amendment to this amendment, which I should like to move at this stage : “That in amendment No. 1967, for the proviso to clause (2) of the proposed article 122, the following proviso be substituted :— ‘ Provided that the rules made under this clause shall, so far as they relate to salaries, allowances, leave or pensions, require the approval of the President’ ” * CAD, Vol. VIII, 27th May 1949, p.387 † Ibid p.388. 597DRAFT CONSTITUTION