Vol. 17, Part II · pages 396–400

371INDIA AND . . . . . . . . . COMMONWEALTH “His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom have ascertained that His Majesty’s Government in Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa are also prepared so to treat the new Constitution.” Having accepted Ireland as a member of the Commonwealth, the British Government is bound to do the same with regard to India especially when the terms in both cases are the same. Neither the British Government nor the Dominions can demand from us for associate membership which is all we need. V-Nature and Advantages of the New proposal 17. By this new proposal the Commonwealth will consist of two sorts of States—(1) Constituent States, and (2) Associated States. The former will be the old Dominions with the King at the head. The latter will include countries like India who do not acknowledge the King at the head. The proposal has two advantages. It enables India to remain as Republic which she has resolved to be. It enables India and the Commonwealth to obtain reciprocal advantages in fields which are of vital importance to both. And lastly, it enables India to avoid the danger of giving recognition to the proposal of a Commonwealth citizenship which may involve equality of treatment of Indians and Britishers in matters of trade and commerce against which India has fought. Vl-Clarification 18. While making India an Associate Member of the Commonwealth, we must not omit to make two things clear. One is that whether India is a member of the Commonwealth or not must not be made dependent upon the wishes of the Commonwealth. It must be determined entirely by any declaration made by India in this behalf. The other is that the dissociation of India from the Commonwealth must be left to be decided by any declaration made by India in this behalf. Anyone who has studied the case of Ireland will realize the importance of these clarifications. Ireland has been held to be a Dominion even when it was made clear by her in her Constitution that she did not want to be a Dominion. Ireland has not been allowed to go out of the Commonwealth on the ground that the other Dominions have not recognized her as a Foreign State.

372 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES 19. This clarification has become urgent because of the recent decision of the King’s Bench Division in Murry v/s Parkes (A.E.R.1942-Volume I. 558.) The question was whether Ireland was or was not a Dominion. The Lord Chief Justice held that Ireland was not a Dominion and gave two reasons in support of his decision— (1) That, he was not aware that Eire had ever expressly exercised the right of secessions, and (2) That, even if it had, the question would still remain whether secession by Eire could be effective unless and until the other members of the Commonwealth had recognized Eire as a Foreign State. This is I have no doubt a very mischievous decision. There is in it more politics than Law. We must not, therefore, leave any shadow of doubt on the point that our entry into as well as our exit from the Commonwealth is a matter which entirely depends upon us and the wish and the consent of the Commonwealth is both unnecessary and irrelevant. VII-Implementation 20. I now come to the question of implementation. There are two questions here which arise for consideration. The form of the declaration and the method of giving it a legal sanction. As to the form of the declaration, I put forth the following Draft— “India is hereby declared to be an Associate member of the British Commonwealth for the purposes of such concerted action founded on consultation and free will in matters of common concern which shall include trade, commerce, defence, peace and war on the understanding that when acting as an associate rights, status, and privileges of India shall in no respect be less than those enjoyed by any of the other component States of the Commonwealth.” Such a declaration accompanied by clarifications on points mentioned above should suffice. If such a declaration is made, it does not seem to me to be necessary to amend the Preamble by the substitution of the word ‘State’ for the word ‘Republic’. The word ‘Republic’ may stand.

373INDIA AND . . . . . . . . . COMMONWEALTH 21. The next question is of implementation. There are two ways of implementing it. One is by a treaty. The other is by introducing an Article in the Constitution. I prefer the latter mode. 22. This statement may appear to run counter to what is suggested by my amendment to the Preamble. I must confess that my attitude has undergone a change. This change is due to the new basis suggested for Dominion Status—namely Commonwealth Citizenship. I was in favour of Dominion Status because of the right it gave to each Dominion to define its Citizens. A common Citizenship seems to me to be dangerous to the economic independence of India. For it may result in taking away the liberty of India to protect her nationals against Commonwealth citizens. The original basis of Dominion Status—namely allegiance to the King—appears to me less dangerous than the new basis of Commonwealth citizenship. zz

30 CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONALISM THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA AN EXPOSITION OF ITS PRINCIPLES Introduction : The Beginnings and the Growth of the Constitution. PART I Principles underlying the Constitutional System Chapter 1. .. The Principle of Democracy. Chapter 2. .. The Principle of Federalism. Chapter 3. .. The Principle of Separation of Powers. PART II The Organs of the State Chapter 4. .. The Legislature. Chapter 5. .. The Executive. Chapter 6. .. The Judiciary. PART III The Union and the States Chapter7. .. Legislative Relations. Chapter 8. .. Administrative Relations. Chapter 9. .. Financial Relations. Chapter 10. .. Emergency Relations. PART IV The State and the Citizen Chapter 11. .. The Rule of Law. Chapter 12. .. Right to Personal Freedom. Chapter 13. .. Right to Freedom of Speech. Chapter 14. .. Right of Public Meeting. Chapter 15. .. Right of Association. Chapter 16. .. Right of Free Movement. Chapter 17. .. Right to hold Property. The manuscript received contained only the Chapter Scheme of the book presented above and the two introductions which follow : Editors.

375CONSTITUTION AND CONSTITUTIONALISM INTRODUCTION The Nature and scope of Constitutional Law In the pages that follow I have not reproduced the text of the Articles of the Constitution. Such a thing would have been in my judgment useless and unhelpful to the student who wants to have an overall idea of the provisions of the Constitution and the principles underlying it. What I have done is to select certain heads and assemble thereunder for discussion and exposition articles of the Constitution relevant to such heads. What those heads are will be clear from the Table of Contents. This is an analytical study of the Constitution which aims to give an objective picture of the Constitution and to set it in contrast with the provisions of the constitutions of other countries. It is not unlikely that a reader may ask on what basis I have selected the heads for discussion. My answer is that these are the topics which are generally held to fall within the scope of Constitutional Law. This answer, however, raises other questions. What is meant by a Constitution ? What is the nature and scope of Constitutional Law ? Some explanation of the subject is, therefore, inevitable. It must, however, be very brief. What is meant by the term Constitution ? The word constitution in its legal connotation means the act of establishing or of ordaining or the ordinance or regulation so established. According to Prof. Mc II wain :— “In the Roman Empire the word in its Latin form became the technical term for acts of legislation by the emperor, and from Roman Law the Church borrowed it and applied it to ecclesiastical regulations for the whole Church or some particular ecclesiastical province. From the Church, or possibly from the Roman law-books themselves, the term came back into use in the later middle ages as applicable to secular enactments of the time.”