INTERIM REPORT ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS 15
C LAUSE 11.— R IGHTS OF F REEDOM
- The Hon’ble Sardar Vallabbhhai Patel : Clause 11 is as regards forced labour and it reads :
“11. ( a ) Traffic in human beings, and
( b ) Forced labour in any form including begar and involuntary servitude except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
are hereby prohibited and any contravention of this prohibition shall be an offence.”
Explanation —
“Nothing in this sub-clause shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes without any discrimination on the ground of race, religion, caste or class.
Now we have to try to discuss this and abridge it and put it in a comprehensive form instead of separate clauses and put it in one clause “traffic in human beings”.
† Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (Bengal : General) : The point that I want to make is this, that, while I have no objection to the redrafting of subclause (a) and (b) in order that they may run in a compact manner, I have certain amount of doubt as to whether the dropping of the Explanation is in consonance with the desire of the majority of the members of the Advisory Committee that the State should not have power in any way for introducing compulsory service. Mr. Munshi suggests that, if the clause stands as redrafted and if the Explanation is omitted, none-the-less, the State will have the right to introduce compulsory military service. I have not had sufficient time to apply my mind to the consequences of the proposed change, i.e., the dropping of the Explanation but I fear that the dropping of the Explanation and retaining the clause in the form in which it is stated may have opposite and serious consequences. Because ‘ begar ’ is also something which is imposed by the State. So far as I know, in Bombay, ‘ begar ’ is demanded by the State for certain public purpose, and if the State is prohibited from having ‘begar’ it is perfectly possible for anybody to argue that even compulsory military service is begar. I am, therefore, not quite satisfied that the dropping of the Explanation is something which is advisable at this stage. I am not in a position to suggest any definite course of action in this matter, but I think I shall be sufficiently discharging my duties if I draw the attention of the House to the doubt which I have in mind about the effect which the dropping of the Explanation may have on the right of the State in regard to compulsory
*CAD, Vol. III, 1st May 1947, p. 478
† Ibid., Vol. III, 1st May 1947, p. 480.