z:\ ambedkar\vol-02\vol2-09.indd MK SJ+DK 21-9-2013 695
EVIDENCE : SIR EDWARD BENTHALL AND OTHERS 695
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I will not pursue that. Now, with respect to Directors, what sort of a provision do you contemplate for excluding political influence ? Would you say, for instance, that a person who belonged to a political party in India was to be disqualified from being a Director ?
Sir Edward Benthall : No. To begin with, I would have a Shareholders Bank, and the shareholders nominating the majority of the Directors.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : They may be politicians?
Sir Edward Benthall : Not politicians sitting in the Legislatures.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : But they may be very actively supporting the Party fund ?
Sir Edward Benthall : If they were very actively supporting Party politics, they would not carry the financial confidence of the country.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : But there will be no disqualification to such persons being appointed ?
Sir Edward Benthall : They would be very foolish if they tried to carry on the two things at once.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Now with respect to your comments on paragraph 122 of the White Paper. In paragraph 5, you make certain suggestions for including certain qualifications in Proposal 122 ?,
Sir Edward Benthall : Yes.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I just want to read the last four or five lines of that paragraph : “but no law will be deemed to be discriminatory for this purpose on the ground only that it prohibits either absolutely or with exceptions the sale or mortgage of agricultural land in any area to any person not belonging to some class recognised as being a class of persons engaged in, or connected with, agriculture in that area.” What I want to point out is this, that unless the words “without distinction of caste, creed or religion,” are inserted in this latter portion, it will still be possible to make a discrimination within that class based on caste, creed or religion. You can have an agricultural class and within that agricultural class you can make a distinction between caste, creed or religion ?
Sir Edward Benthall : Yes. I should like the lawyers to consider that point.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : The reason why I ask you is this, that you make certain suggestions with regard to the improvement of this clause by saying : ‘if this proposal is to be effective, it will be necessary to include “domicile, continuity or duration of residence” in British India ?
Sir Edward Benthall : Yes.
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : You did not say that it should also exclude any distinction based upon caste, creed or religion ? That would have to be done if this paragraph is to be effective against any discrimination ?
Sir Edward Benthall : I think the point that we made in connection with the latter half of that paragraph is contained in our paragraph 6 under Section G. We did not want that to apply to prevent Europeans taking up