DRAFT CONSTITUTION 349
Since the Member concerned is not here, Amendment No. 842 falls Through.
Amendment Nos. 843 to 846—Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad.
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I shall be moving Nos. 843, 844 and 846. I shall not be moving No. 845.
Sir, I move.
“That in article 28. the words ‘unless the context otherwise requires’ be omitted.”
“That in article 28, for the word ‘requires’. the word ‘indicates’ be substituted.”
“That in article 28, for the words ‘the State’. the word ‘State’ be substituted.”
[This was followed by Mr. Ahmed’s speech.]
*The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I oppose the amendments of my Friend, Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad. The words “the State” in Article
28 have been used deliberately. In this Constitution, the word “State” has been used in two different senses. It is used as the collective entity, either representing the Centre or the Province, both of winch in certain parts of the Constitution are spoken of as “State”. But the word used there is in a collective sense. Here the words “the State” are used both in a collective sense as well as in the distributive sense. If my friend were to refer to part III, which begins with Article 7 of the Constitution, he will see in what sense the word “State” is used. In this part, unless the context otherwise requires, “the State” includes the Government and the Parliament of India and the Government and the Legislature of each of the States and all local or other authorities within the territory of India. So that, so far as the Directive Principles are concerned, even a village panchayat or a district or local board would be a State also. In order to distinguish the sense in which we have used the word we have thought it desirable to speak of ‘State’ and also ‘the State’. Honourable Members will find this distinction also made in Article 12 of the Constitution. There we say :
“No title shall be conferred by the State ;
“No citizen of India shall accept any title from any foreign State.”
There we do not use the words “the State”; but in the first part we use the words ‘the State’. We do not want any of the authorities, either of the Centre or of the provinces, to confer any title upon any individual. That being the distinction, the House will realise that the retention of the words ‘the State’ in Article 28 is in consonance with
*CAD. (Official Report), Vol. VII, 19th November 1948, pp. 477-78