Vol. 13 · pages 656–660

623DRAFT CONSTITUTION to the fact that under the old system, the civil and military Government of India was vested not in the Governor-General, but in the Governor-General in Council, and consequently, all action had to be expressed in the name of the Government of India. Today, the position has altogether changed so far as article 130 is concerned. [No amendment was accepted Article 146 was added to the constitution.] ARTICLE 147 ***** *The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Mr. President, Sir, I must say that I am considerably surprised at the very excited debate which has taken place on this article 147. I should like, at the very outset, to remind the House that this article 147 is an exact reproduction of article 65 which this House has already passed. Article 65 gives the President the same power as article 147 proposes to give to the Governor. Consequently, I should have thought that all the debate that took place, when article 65 was before the House, should have sufficed for the purpose of article 147. Shri H. V. Kamath : May I remind the Honourable Dr. Ambedkar that the President is elected and the Governor nominated…… (Interruption). The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : As the debate has taken place and as several Members of the House seem to think that there is something behind this article 147 which would put the position of the Ministers and of the Cabinet in the provinces in jeopardy, I propose to offer some explanation. The first thing I would like the House to bear in mind is this. The Governor under the Constitution has no functions which he can discharge by himself; no functions at all. While he has no functions, he has certain duties to perform, and I think the House will do well to bear in mind this distinction. This article certainly, it should be borne in mind, does not confer upon the Governor the power to overrule the Ministry on any particular matter. Even under this article, the Governor is bound to accept the advice of the Ministry. That, I think, ought not to be forgotten. This article, nowhere, either in clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c), says that the Governor in any particular circumstances may * CAD, Vol. VIII, 2nd June 1949, PP. 545-547.

624 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES overrule the Ministry. Therefore, the criticism that has been made that this article somehow enables the Governor to interfere or to upset the decision of the Cabinet is entirely beside the point, and completely mistaken. Shri H. V. Kamath : Won’t he be able to delay or obstruct……….? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : My friend will not interrupt while I am going on At the end, he may ask any question and if 1 am in a position to answer, I shall answer. A distinction has been made between the functions of the Governor and the duties which the Governor has to perform. My submission is that although the Governor has no functions still, even the constitutional Governor, that he is, has certain duties to perform. His duties, according to me, may be classified in two parts. One is, that he has to retain the Ministry in office. Because, the Ministry is to hold office during his pleasure, he has to see whether and when he should exercise his pleasure against the Ministry. The second duty which the Governor has, and must have, is to advise the Ministry, to warn the Ministry, to suggest to the Ministry an alternative and to ask for a reconsideration. I do not think that anybody in this House will question the fact that the Governor should have this duty cast upon him; otherwise, he would be an absolutely unnecessary functionary : no good at all. He is the representative not of a party; he is the representative of the people as a whole of the State. It is in the name of the people that he carries on the administration. He must see that the administration is carried on a level which may be regarded as good, efficient, honest administration. Therefore, having regard to these two duties which the Governor has, namely to see that the administration is kept pure, without corruption, impartial, and that the proposals enunciated by the Ministry are not contrary to the wishes of the people, and therefore to advise them, warn them and ask them to reconsider—I ask the House, how is the Governor in a position to carry out his duties unless he has before him certain information ? I submit that he cannot discharge the constitutional functions of a Governor which I have just referred to unless he is in a position to obtain the information. Suppose, for instance, the Ministers pass a resolution,—and I know this has happened in many cases, in many provinces today,—that no paper need be sent to the Governor, how is the Governor to discharge his functions ? It is to enable the Governor to discharge his functions in respect of a good and pure administration that we propose to give the -Governor the power to call for any

625DRAFT CONSTITUTION information. If I may say so, I think I might tell the House how the affairs are run at the Centre. So far as my information goes all cabinet papers are sent to the Governor-General. Similarly, there are what are called weekly summaries which are prepared by every Ministry of the decisions taken in each Ministry on important subjects relating to public affairs. These summaries which come to the Cabinet, also go to the Governor-General. If, for instance, the Governor-General, on seeing the weekly summaries sent up by the departments finds that a Minister, without reference to the cabinet has taken a decision on a particular subject which he thinks is not good, is there any wrong if the Governor-General is empowered to say that this particular decision which has been taken by an individual Minister without consulting the rest of the Ministers should be reconsidered by the Cabinet ? I cannot see what harm there can be, I cannot see what sort of interference that would constitute in the administration of the affairs of the Government. I therefore, submit that the criticisms levelled against this article are based upon either a misreading of this article or upon some misconception which is in the minds of the people that this article is going to give the Governor the power to interfere in the administration. Nothing of the sort is intended and such a result I am sure will not follow from the language of the article 147. All that the article does is to place the Governor in a position to enable him to perform, what I say, not functions because he has none, but the duties which every good Governor ought to discharge. (Cheers.) Shri H. V. Kamath : May I ask Dr. Ambedkar some questions ? Mr. President: What is the use of asking question now ? You had your chance. Shri H. V. Kamath : Dr. Ambedkar said that I could put questions at the end of his speech. Mr. President : I do not like this practice of putting questions at the end of the discussions. All questions have been answered. I will now put the article to vote as there is no amendment to this. Mr. President : The question is : “That article 147 stand part of the Constitution.” The motion was adopted. Article 147 was added to the Constitution. *****

626 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES ARTICLE 151 ***** *Mr. President : 2308.—Dr. Ambedkar. The Honourable Dr. H. R. Ambedkar : Sir I move : “Thai in clause (2) of article 151, for the words ‘third year’ the words ‘second year’ he substituted.” ***** †The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The article has been passed that the Second Chamber shall be there. This article deals only with how the Members will re-elect themselves. Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena : We have to decide whether a particular Council should live for nine years or six years, and that will depend upon the composition of the Council. The composition will determine the period al the end of which one-third of the members should retire. Mr. President : That does not depend on the composition of the Council. Whatever may be the life of the House, the composition will be according lo the decision we may take on article 150. Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena : Well Sir, I bow to your ruling.... Then it has been said that one-third of the Council will retire every third year. I am glad Dr. Ambedkar has now proposed that the period will now be two years instead of three. That will make the life of the Council only six years which is almost equal to the life of the Assembly. It also ensures greater freshness to the Council. I therefore, support the amendment of Dr. Ambedkar. Mr. President : Dr. Ambedkar, do you wish to say anything ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I accept Mr. Gupte’s amendment. Mr. President : Now I shall put Mr. Gupte’s amendment which has been accepted by Dr. Ambedkar, to vole. It becomes the original amendment. The question is : “That with reference to amendment No. 2304 of the List of Amendment, after clause (1) of article 151, the following proviso be inserted : ‘Provided that the said period may. while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, he extended by Parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case beyond a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate.’ ” The amendment was adopted. Mr. President : Mr. Brajeshwar Prasad’s amendment. The amendment was, by leave of the Assembly, withdrawn. *CAD, Vol. VIII, 2nd June 1948, p. 548 † Ibid., pp. 549-50.

627DRAFT CONSTITUTION Mr. President : Then I put Dr. Ambedkar’s amendment, No. 2308. [Already mentioned.] The amendment was adopted. Article 151, as amended, was added to the Constitution. ARTICLE 152 *Mr. President : Then we come to article 152. To this article, there is the amendment of Dr. Ambedkar. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “That for article 152, the following be substituted :-— 152. Qualification for membership of the State Legislature.—A person shall not he qualified lo be chosen to fill a seat in the Legislature of a State unless he— (a) is a citizen of India; (b) is. in the case of a seat in a Legislative Assembly, not less than twenty-live years of age and, in the case of a seat in the Legislative Council, not less than thirty-five years of age, and (c) possesses such other qualifications as may lie prescribed in that a behalf by or under any law made by the Legislature of the State’.” ***** † The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I accept the amendment moved by Shrimati Purnima Banerji. With regard to the fear that she expressed about clause (c) that this clause might enable the prescription of property qualifications by Parliament for candidates, I certainly can say that such is not the intention underlying sub-clause (c). What is behind this clause is the provision of such disqualifications as bankruptcy, unsoundness of mind, residence in a particular constituency and things of that sort. Certainly there is no intention that the property qualification should be included as a necessary condition for candidates. Then, with regard to the amendment of Professor K. T. Shah about literacy. I think that is a matter which might as well be left to the Legislatures. If the Legislatures at the time of prescribing qualifications feel that literacy qualification is a necessary one, I no doubt think that they will do it. Sir, there is only one point about which 1 should like to make a specific reference. Sub-clause (c) is in a certain manner related to articles 290 and 291 which deal with electoral matters. We have not passed those articles. If during the course of dealing with articles 290 and 291, the House comes to the conclusion that the provision contained in clause (c) should be prescribed by the law made by Parliament, then I should like to *CAD, Vol. VIII, 2nd June 1948, p. 550. † Ibid., pp. 553-54.