DRAFT CONSTITUTION 711
Shri A. Thanu Pillai (Travancore States) : Mr. President, Sir, I hope Dr. Ambedkar will enlighten the House as to the necessity for this provision in the form in which it is worded.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : May I ask what exactly I have to explain ?
*Shri M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar : I would say “all lands, minerals and other things of value underlying the ocean within the territorial waters and the territorial waters of India shall vest in the Union and be held for the purposes of the Union.”
An Honourable Member : What about the air ?
Another Honourable Member : What about the heavens ?
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, I gave in my speech when I moved the amendment the reasons why we thought such an article was necessary. There seems to be some doubt raised by my Honourable Friend Mr. Pillai that this might also include the right to fisheries. Now I should like to draw his attention to the fact that fisheries are included in List II—entry No. 29.
Shri A. Thanu Pillai : My objection related to other matters as well.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I will come to that. I am just dealing with this for the moment. Therefore this entry of fisheries being included expressly in List No. II means that whatever jurisdiction the Central Government would get over the territorial waters would be subject to Entry 29 in List No. II. Therefore, fisheries would continue to be a provincial subject even within the territorial waters of India. That I think must be quite clear to my Honourable Friend, Mr. Pillai, now.
With regard to the first question, the position is this. In the United States, as my Honourable Friend, Shri Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar said, there has been a question as to whether the territorial waters belong to the United States Government or whether they belong to several States, because you know under the American Constitution, the Central Government gets only such powers as have been expressly given to them. Therefore, in the United States it is a moot question as yet, I think, whether the territorial waters belong to the States or they belong to the Centre. We thought that this is such an important matter that we ought not to leave it
*CAD, Vol. VIII, 15th June 1949, pp. 891-93.