1056 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
refer not merely to the Centre but to the relations between the Centre and the Provinces. We cannot forget the fact that while we have in a large number of cases invaded provincial autonomy, we still intend and have as a matter of fact seen to it that the federal structure of the Constitution remains fundamentally unaltered. We have by our laws given certain rights to provinces, and reserved certain rights to the Centre. We have distributed legislative authority; we have distributed executive authority and we have distributed administrative authority. Obviously to say that even those articles of the Constitution which pertain to the administrative, legislative, financial and other powers, such as the executive powers of the provinces should be made liable to alteration by the Central Parliament by two-thirds majority, without permitting the provinces or the States to have any voice, is in my judgement altogether nullifying the fundamentals of the Constitution. If my honourable Friends were to refer to the articles which are included in the proviso they will see that we have selected very few. Article 43 deals with the election of the President; article 44 deals with the manner of election of the President. It was the view of the Drafting Committee that the President, while no doubt in charge of the affairs of the Centre, none the less was the head of the Union, and as such, the provinces were as much interested in his election and in the manner of his election as the Centre. Consequently we thought that this was a proper matter to be included in that category of articles which would require ratification by the provinces.
Take article 60 and article 142. Article 60 deals with the extent of the executive authority of the Union and article 142 deals with the extent of the executive authority of the State. We have laid down in our Constitution the fundamental proposition that executive authority shall be co-extensive with legislative authority. Supposing, for instance, the Parliament has the power to make an alteration in article 60 for extending the executive authority beyond the provisions or the limit contained in article 60, it would undoubtedly undermine or limit the executive authority of the States as defined in article 142 and we therefore thought that that also was a fundamental matter and ought to require the ratifications of the States.
Chapter IV, Part V, deals with the Supreme Court. There can be no doubt about it that the Supreme Court is a court in which both the Centre and the provinces or the units and every citizen of this country are interested, and it was therefore a matter which ought not to be left to be