Vol. 14, Part II · pages 196–200

976 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES Shri Jhunjhunwala (Bihar) : I beg to move : To clause 2, add the proviso : “Provided however, that notwithstanding anything contained in the above clauses this Code shall not apply to such person as will get his or her name registered with such authority and in such manner, as may be hereafter prescribed by Parliament, within five years after this Code comes into force and in case of a minor within five years after such a minor attains majority, to the effect that he or she does not want to be governed by this Code.” I have moved an amendment where I had placed the burden on the persons to get themselves registered who want to be governed, and if that is not accepted, here I have placed it on those who do not want to be governed by this Code. Shri Bhatt : I beg to move : In sub-clause (3) of clause 2, after “nevertheless governed”, insert “or desire to be governed”. Mr. Deputy Speaker : I shall formally place the amendments before the House. So far as the amendments to clause 2 that were moved last time are concerned, they are already before the House. Hereafter all amendments must be moved at the beginning of the discussion, because if they continue to be moved when the discussion is in progress, hon. Members who have already taken part in the discussion may not be able to take part and speak on those new amendments. It is not a technical objection. These may be amendments of substance and hon. Members who have already spoken with reference to other amendments earlier, may not be sole to take part in the discussion on these new amendments. But in the present case, if there are any such hon. Members I shall consider and give them also a chance, if necessary.... Dr. Ambedkar : A small chance. Mr. Deputy Speaker : A small chance. But they may not repeat what they had already stated. Barring that, in future, my request to hon. Members is that all the amendments may be moved when a particular clause or sub-clause is begun. Otherwise we will have to go on repeating the process, allowing the Members to move amendments, and going over the whole matter once again. I have already placed before the House the amendment moved by the Hon. Dr. Ambedkar today. I will now place before the House the other amendments moved today.

977 DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL Amendments moved : (1) In the amendment proposed by Shri J. R. Kapoor, printed as No. 93, to the proposed clause 2, add the proviso : “Provided that the provisions of Part II relating to marriage and divorce shall apply to such declarant only when both the bride and bridegroom before the marriage, or both the husband and wife after the marriage, make such a declaration.” (2) for clause 2, substitute : “2. Application of Code. —This Code applies to all the citizens of India that is Bharat, who after attaining the age of majority declare in writing that they shall be governed by this Code, and get such declaration registered in accordance with rules prescribed for the purposes by the Central Government: Provided that the provisions of Part II relating to marriage and divorce shall apply to such declarant only when both the bride and the bridegroom before the marriage, or both the husband and wife after the marriage, make such a declaration.” (3) In the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, in the proposed amendments to sub-clause (1) of clause 2, after part (l)(ii), insert: “(iii) insert a new part (e) as follows : ‘(e) to a convert to any religion or faith after the commencement of this Code’.” (4) In the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, in part (l)(ii) of the proposed amendment to sub-clause (1) of clause 2, after “Sikh religion” add : “or to any other religion or faith except Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew religion.” (5) In the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, in the proposed amendment to clause 2, after part (1), insert: “(1A) in the proviso to sub-clause (2), insert at the end ‘unless he has declared his consent in the manner prescribed by the Central Government in this behalf to be governed by this Code in respect of such matters also’.” (6) In the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, in the proposed amendment to clause 2, after part (1), insert:

978 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES “(1A) in sub-clause (3) for the words ‘the provisions’ the words ‘any or more of the provisions’ be substituted.” (7) in the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, in the proposed amendment to clause 2, after part (1), insert: “(1A) in sub-clause (3) insert at the end ‘in respect of any or more of the matters dealt with herein’.” (8) In the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, for part (2). substitute : “(2) for sub-clause (4), the following be substituted, namely :— ‘(4) This Code or any Part or Parts thereof also apply to any other person who declares his consent in the manner prescribed by the Central Government in this behalf to be governed by this Code or any part or parts thereof, as the case may be’. ” (9) In the amendment proposed by the Hon. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, printed as No. 3, after part (2), insert: “(3) After sub-clause (3), the following new sub-clause be inserted, namely:— ‘(4) This code or any part or parts thereof also apply to any other person who after attaining the age of majority declares in writing that he shall be governed by this Code, or any part or parts thereof as the case may be, and get such declaration registered in accordance with rules prescribed for the purposes by the Central Government: Provided that the provisions of Part II relating to marriage and divorce shall apply to such declarant only when both the bride and the bridegroom before the marriage, or both the husband and wife after the marriage, have made such a declaration’. ” (10) In part (a) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, for “Hindus, that is to say, all persons professing the Hindu religion” substitute “persons who are Hindus by religion”. (11) In part (a) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, for “members”, substitute “followers”. (12) Omit part (b) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2. (13) For part (b) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, substitute : “(b) to any person who is a Jaina by religion.”

979 DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL (14) In part (b) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, for “Jaina or Sikh” substitute “or Jaina”. (15) In clause 2, omit “Sikh”, wherever it occurs. (16) In part (c)(i) of sub-clause (I) of clause 2, after “Illegitimate” insert: “who, if he has attained the age of eighteen years, is himself a Hindu and.” (17) In part (c)(i) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, after “parents are” insert “or have been”. (18) After part (c)(ii) of sub-clause (1), of clause 2, insert: “(iii) to any orphan or abandoned child brought up by the State.” (19) In part (d) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, at the end, add : “subject to his rights and liabilities before his conversion.” (20) After sub-clause (1) of clause 2, insert: “(1A) This code shall not apply to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.” (21) Omit sub-clause (2) of clause 2. (22) for sub-clause (2) of clause 2, substitute : “(2) This Code also applies to any person, irrespective of his religion, who has been governed by the Hindu Law or by any custom or usage as part of that law in respect of any matters dealt with herein.” (23) In the proviso to sub-clause (2) of clause 2, for “in respect of those matters” occuring at the end, substitute : “In respect of matters which that person has not voluntarily chosen.” (24) Omit sub-clause (3) of clause 2. (25) for sub-clause (3) of clause 2, substitute : “(3) The expression ‘Hindu’ wherever it occurs in this Code shall be construed as it included a person who, though not a Hindu by religion, is nevertheless governed, or declares his consent in the manner prescribed by the Central Government in this behalf to be governed, by the provisions of this Code.” (26) In sub-clause (3) of clause 2, after “nevertheless governed”, insert “or desires to be governed”. (27) Omit sub-clause (4) of clause 2.

980 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES (28) To clause 2, add the proviso : “Provided that the provisions of Parts II or/and VII relating to marriage and divorce, and succession shall not apply to any person unless such person, after attaining the age of majority declares in writing that he or she, as the case may be, shall be governed by the said provisions, and gets such declaration registered in accordance with rules prescribed for the purpose by the Central Government. Provided further that the provisions of Part II relating to marriage and divorce shall apply to such declarant only when both the bride and bridegroom before the marriage, or both the husband and wife after the marriage, make such a declaration.” (29) To clause 2, add the proviso : “Provided however, that notwithstanding anything contained in the above clauses, this Code shall not apply to such person as will get his or her name registered with such authority and in such manner, as may be hereafter prescribed by Parliament, within five years after this Code comes into force and in case of a minor within five years after such a minor attains majority, to the effect that he or she does not want to be governed by this Code.” (30) To clause 2, add the proviso : “Provided however, that notwithstanding anything contained in this section this Code shall not apply to any person unless such person got his name registered, signifying his will to be governed by this Code, with such authority and in such manner as may be prescribed.” The other amendments on the order paper against which an asterisk mark is placed and which were moved in the last session are also before the House. The clause as well as all the amendments will now be under discussion. I will ordinarily only request hon. Members, who have not taken part in the debate so far on clause to rise in their seats. If hon. Members who have already spoken want to state any fresh points arising now, I will consider the matter and allow an opportunity, if necessary, later on. Pandit Malaviya (Uttar Pradesh): Sir, will you allow anybody to move any further amendments to this clause during the course of the discussion ? Mr. Deputy Speaker : What I find is, normally that is a very difficult affair. It is inconvenient if amendments are allowed to be