DRAFT CONSTITUTION 919
in the original list of the Government of India Act 1935, because at that time the control over the houses and their rents was not needed and it was not prevalent in India. But...
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : I understand the honourable Member’s argument and I could reply to him in a few minutes.
Shri Mahavir Tyagi: Yes, and I therefore only submit that this subject of control of the houses and the control of the rents should be there. I would even go further and say that the control of good grains also should come in. If the House agrees, it may be brought in as an independent item somewhere.
The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar : Sir, there are, I think three distinct questions, although they have not been stated by Mr. Tyagi in that form. The first question is whether the Provincial legislature should or should not have any power to regulate and control houses and house-rent. I think on that issue, there can be no difference of opinion, that the Provincial Governments must have such power. The question then is whether the Draft Constitution and the entries in the list make any provision for the provincial legislatures to exercise powers for the purpose of regulating and controlling the houses and the rents. Now, my submission is that the specific entry as proposed by Mr. Tyagi is quite unnecessary, because there are two other entries, namely entry 24 of List II which deals with “land, rights in or over land, land tenures including the relation of land-lord and tenant, and the collection of rents, etc.” That is one entry. Then there is another entry No. 8 in List III about transfer of property other than agricultural land; registration of deeds and documents. These two entries have been found to be quite sufficient to enable the Provincial Governments to make laws relating to the regulation and control of Houses and rents,—My Friend Mr. Tyagi knows also, that notwithstanding the fact that such an entry does not exist even today, under List II of the Government of India Act, none-the-less, the Provinces have enacted laws in this matter. Therefore entry 24 relating to land and the other entry. No. 8 about transfer of property are quite sufficient to give the power which Mr. Tyagi wants that they should have.
Another difficulty in the way of accepting the amendment of Mr. Tyagi is this. Suppose we were now to include this entry, it would cause a certain amount of doubt on the laws that have already been made by the provinces for the purpose of regulation of houses and the control of rents. It would appear that the legislature itself felt that the entry as it already existed, was not sufficient for the purpose of giving the legislature power