4 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
*HINDU MARRIAGES VALIDITY BILL
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava (East Punjab : General); Sir, I beg to move for leave to introduce a Bill to provide that marriages between Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and their different castes and sub-castes are valid.
Mr. Speaker : The question is:
“That leave be granted to introduce a Bill to provide that marriages between Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and their different castes and sub-castes are valid.”
The motion was adopted.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava : Sir, I introduce the Bill.
*HINDU CODE
*** The Honourable Dr. B. R. Ambedkar** (Minister for Law) : I beg to move:
“That the Bill to amend and codify certain branches of the Hindu Law, be referred to a Select Committee consisting of Shri Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, Dr. Bakshi Tek Chand, Shri M. Anantthasayanam Ayyangar,
Shrimati G. Durgabai, Shri L. Krishnaswami Bharathi, Shri U. Srinivasa Mallayya Shri Mihir Lal Chattopadhvay, Dr. P. S. Deshmukh, Shrimati Renuka Ray, Dr. P. K. Sen, Babu Ramnarayan Singh, Shri Kishorimohan Tripathi, Shrimati Ammu Swaminadhan, Pandit Balkrishna Sharma, Shri
Khursheed Lal, Shri Brajeshwar Prasad, Shri B. Shiva Rao, Shri Baldeo Swarup, Shri V. C. Kesava Rao and the Mover, with instructions to report not later than the last day of the first week of the next session of the
Assembly and that the number of members whose presence shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Committee shall be five.”
Sir, it is a matter of great pity and also of great regret both for myself and I believe also for the members of the House that so
important a measure as the codification of Hindu Law should
4 P . M . have come for discussion before the House almost at the
fag end of the session. We have, according to the arrangement announced by the Honourable speaker this morning, to conclude the debate on this motion by 7 O’clock from now, with an interval of half an hour. I think it my duty that within the limitations in which we are placed I should give more time to Members of the Legislature to express their views on the various points raised by this Bill and I should like to contribute my own mite to the fulfilment of this wish which I have expressed. The only way by which I could do it is to set an example by myself to make my opening speech as brief as
*C.A. (Leg.) D., Vol. II, 26th February 1948, p. 1288.
*C.A. (Leg.) D., Vol. IV, 9th April 1948, pp. 3628-33.