Vol. 13 · pages 821–825

788 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES be so revised as to do justice between province and province and between the Centre and the provinces. Consequently, when the first order of the President would be issued, it would not be issued, as I said, arbitrarily by the President or merely on the advice of the Executive at the Centre, but he would have some independent, some expert opinion by which he would be guided. After that when the further question arises of revising the orders, the question that will arise is this, whether the President should act on the advice of Parliament or whether he should act on his own advice or whether he should act on the advice and recommendation of the Finance Commission which is to be appointed under the Constitution. As I said, there are three different alternatives which we could adopt. I know my honourable Friend, Pandit Kunzru with the best of motives, suggests that the President should act independently and not be guided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission. There is a section of opinion represented by my honourable Friend, Professor Saksena, that no allocation should be made by the President even upon the recommendation of the Finance Commission unless Parliament gives sanction to it. As I have said there are defects in both these positions. I do not think that it is right for the President, after having appointed a Commission to recommend the allocation, that he should altogether disregard the recommendations of that Commission, pursue his own point of view and make the allocation. That I think would be showing disrespect to the Commission. As I have said, the third alternative of leaving the matter to Parliament seems to me to be full of danger, involving provincial controversies, and provincial jealousies. Therefore, the Drafting Committee has adopted, if I may say so, the middle way, namely, that although the matter may be debated in Parliament, in the action taken by the President, he should be guided by the recommendations made by the Fiscal Commission and should not act arbitrarily. I hope the House will accept this. This is the most reasonable compromise of the three methods and it is the best way of dealing with this matter. [The amendment of Dr. Ambedkar as mentioned earlier was adopted.] Article 254 was added to the Constitution.

789DRAFT CONSTITUTION NEW ARTICLE 254-A *Mr. President : Then we shall take up 254-A. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I have a point of order. Sir, the point of order is that amendment No. 82 seeking to introduce a new article 254-A is entirely a new matter. We have already decided in the House that amendments to the Constitution should be presented by a certain date. We have presented our amendments. No further amendments to the Constitution could be allowed according to the rules. The only amendments which are admissible today would be amendments to the original amendments as well as amendments to regular amendments. I submit that the present amendment is not related to any amendment at all... It says that “after article 254 the following article be substituted”. There is here no attempt or even a pretence of it being with reference to or related to or being in connection with any amendment. I submit, Sir, that this article cannot be inserted in this way. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : No doubt the point raised by my honourable Friend is quite valid, but I submit that you have infinite discretion in this matter to allow any amendment if it is an amendment of importance. Mr. President: I think on previous occasions also we have allowed new articles to be inserted and this is a new article which is sought to be inserted after article 254. Shri T. T. Krishnamachari : When you have allowed the Drafting Committee to function, it will be its duty continually to examine the Draft Constitution and if they find that there is a lacuna, because of the fact that the Committee is in existence, it has got to take steps to till in this lacuna. The present amendment arises out of that necessity. Mr. President: On previous occasions I have allowed fresh articles to be introduced, and this is a new article which is sought to be introduced after article 254 and so I allow this. Dr. Ambedkar, you may move the amendment. * CAD, Vol. IX, dated 8th August 1949, pp. 261-64.

790 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “That after article 254 the following article be inserted :— 254-A. (1) No Bill or amendment which imposes or varies any tax or duty in which States are interested, or which varies the meaning of the expression ‘agricultural income’ as defined for the purpose of the enactments relating to Indian Income-tax or which affects the principles on which under any of the foregoing provisions of this Chapter moneys are or may be distributable to States, or which imposes any such surcharge for the purposes of the Union as is mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, shall be introduced or moved in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President. (2) In this article the expression ‘tax or duty in which Slates are interested’ means— (a) a tax or duty the whole or part of the net proceeds whereof are assigned to any State ; or (b) a tax or duty by reference to the net proceeds whereof sums are for the time being payable out of the Consolidated Fund of India to any State.” Sir, I might mention one or two reasons why we felt that at the fag end, so to say, this new article be inserted in the Constitution. A similar provision exists in the Government of India Act. The Drafting Committee considered the matter. They did not think it necessary to incorporate and transfer that article into the new Constitution. However, when a Conference of Premiers was held, it was suggested that such an article would be useful and perhaps necessary, because, once an allocation has been made by Parliament between the provinces and the States, such an allocation should not be liable to be disturbed by any attempt made by any private member to bring in a Bill to make alteration in matters in which the provinces become interested by reason of the allocation. It is because of this that the Drafting Committee has now brought forth this amendment in order to give an assurance to the provinces that no change will be made in the system of allocation unless a Bill to that effect is recommended by the President. Mr. President : There is no amendment to this article. ***** Mr. President : Do you wish to speak, Dr. Ambedkar ? The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I do not think any reply is necessary. ***** Article 254-A was added to the Constitution. Prior recommendation of President required to Bills affecting taxation in which States are interested.

791DRAFT CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 255 *Mr. President : We go to article 255. (Amendment No. 83 was not moved.) The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I beg to move : “That in article 255, for the words ‘revenues of India’, wherever they occur, the words ‘Consolidated Fund of India’ be substituted. “That in the first proviso to article 255, the words and figures ‘for the time being specified in Part I of the First Schedule’ be omitted. “That in clause (a) of the second proviso to article 255, for the words ‘three years ‘the words ‘two years’ be substituted.” The first two amendments are just formal……… Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : On a point of Order. No. 86 is entirely new and not related to anything. It is not a formal matter. It is a serious matter. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : That is what I am trying to explain. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : It is not an amendment to an amendment. It is an amendment to the Constitution. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I move it with the permission of the Chair. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I wanted Dr. Ambedkar to be forced to take the permission of the Chair to move it. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I have taken his permission. The President can give his permission before or after moving it. This matter refers to grants and the provision in the original article itself is that an average of three years should be paid to Assam. It was represented to us that if the average of three years is taken, the Assam Government will get very little because in the first year they did not spend anything but if we took the average of two years, they would get more. It is to meet this difficulty that the Drafting Committee has introduced the words two years instead of three years. ***** ARTICLE 255 (Contd.) †The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Bombay : General) : Mr. President, Sir, I can at once say that I am prepared to accept the * CAD, Vol. IX, dated 8th August 1949, pp. 264-65. †Ibid., dated 9th August 1949, pp. 293-94.

792 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES amendment moved by my Friend, Mr. Nichols Roy. The draft of this article does seem to give the impression that until Parliament determines each year what the grants are to be, the President will have no power to do so. That certainly is not the intention of the Drafting Committee. The Drafting Committee would like the President to exercise his powers of making grants under article 255 even before Parliament has made any determination of this matter. And in order to make this position quite clear, I am, as I said before, prered to accept the amendment moved by Mr. Nichols Roy. I would, however, at this stage, like to say that I have not yet had sufficient time to examine the exact language he has put in his amendment; and therefore, subject to the reservation that the Drafting Committee would have the liberty to change the language in order to suit the text as it stands in article 255, I am prepared to accept his amendment. Mr. President : I will now put the amendments to vote. [All the amendments of Dr. Ambedkar, as given above, were adopted.] Mr. President : And then I put Rev. Nichols Roy’s amendment. The question is : “That in article 255,— (a) after the words ‘Parliament may by law provide ‘the words ‘or until Parliament thus provides, as may be prescribed by the President’ be inserted ; (b) after the words ‘Parliament may determine’ the words ‘or until Parliament determines as the President may determine’ be inserted ; and (c) the following Explanation be added at the end of the article :— “Explanation.—The word “prescribed “has the same meaning as in article 251 (4)(b ).” The amendment was adopted. [Article 255, as amended, was added to the Constitution.] ARTICLE 256 *Mr. President : We now take up article 256. Amendment No. 2925 by Dr. Ambedkar, in Vol. II, of the printed list. The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I move : “That for clause (1) of article 256 the following-clause be substituted:— ‘(1) Notwithstanding anything in article 217 of this Constitution, no law of the legislature of a State relating to taxes for the benefit of the State or of a municipality, district borad, local board or other local authority therein, in respect * CAD, Vol. IX, dated 9th August 1949, p. 301.