244 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
consideration. After that is decided, it is perfectly competent for the honourable member to point out to me any points or any law or any practice by which this House is not competent to take into consideration the present Bill. That is the better way. Let us save time.
Shri Jaspat Roy Kapoor : May I say one word, Sir ?
Mr. Speaker : No, no Pandit Bhargava.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava : Sir, I only propose to lay before you some facts and some law as it would apply to those facts. For instance, I beg to point out that the proceedings before the Select Committee was an abuse of the rules of this House. The privilege of this House has been violated by the Select Committee and by the procedure of the Law Department. Secondly, if my facts are correct, another Bill was considered and not the Bill which was referred to it by the House. The question which arises then would be a question of law, whether such a procedure was justified and whether this House should consider this report as a report on this Bill which was referred to the Select Committee or whether it is a document which is not valid in law and is not a legal document. I will therefore confine myself to the two types of questions which I submit are quite related. In regard to the substance also, with your permission, I will subsequently have something to say provided your ruling is that this question is also relevant. In my humble opinion, the question divide itself into two parts. Number one, whether the report which has been presented to the House is a good report from the procedural point of view. Number two, whether the report has gone beyond the scope of the Bill. I propose to address the House on the second question subsequently.
First of all, with your permission, I will address the House on the first question before laying certain facts before the House. My humble submission is that according to what we have got in the Select Committee’s report and from the papers which have been circulated to us and which are found in the Library, I have come to the conclusion that after the Bill was referred to the Select Committee, the Law department just substituted another Bill for this Bill, and this Bill was considered by the Select Committee. I do not know whether these facts are absolutely correct, but I have consulted some members who were in the Select Committee and they have informed me about it and at the same time from the report of the Select Committee also it appears that as a matter of fact . . . . .