DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 453
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I submit that the entire legislation began with a blunder and it proceeds from blunder to blunder until we come to a capital blunder, namely the present Bill. I submit that the mistake first arose in the year 1937. The mistake arose there and I shall show at once that one mistake led to another mistake and that mistake led to other mistakes and all these mistakes led the Select Committee and then ultimately ( Interruption ) I ask Shri Krishnaswami Bharathi in all seriousness, should I be disturbed like this ?
Mr. Chairman : If the honourable member addresses the Chair, I think the disturbance will be much less.
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Sir, I submit, you will be pleased to consider that in the year 1937, a Bill was passed into law and that is the Hindu Married Women’s Right to Property Act, 1937. That, I submit, was a hasty legislation. It contained within itself ill-digested, little understood law that has led to all this trouble. In fact the author of the Bill was Dr. Deshmukh. So, Dr. Deshmukh—I am happy to find it is not our present Dr. Deshmukh—unconcentously with the bona-fide belief of doing good to Hindu society, introduced that Bill. The effect of the Bill was to introduce some change in the law of Succession in the compact series. According to Hindu Law, as I have understood it, when a man dies, his heirs are son, grandson and great, grandson, In the presence of the son the grandson by a pre-deceased son inherits— the grandson represents his deceased father and takes his father’s share. So in this way the son. grandson and the great-grandson in three generations inherit the property. Dr. Deshmukh was enthused with the idea that the widow must be given a definite status and a definite right. So he made the widow of the propositus a share-holder, and not only the widow of the propositus, but the widow of a deceased son, the widow of the deceased grandson and the widow of a deceased great-grandson. They were also included within the ambit of the shareholders. That, I submit was most ill-considered, although the author was imbued with the highest sense of patriotism and welfare of the community I submit, that this was then ..................
The Honourable Shri K. Santhanam : Would my honourable friend like me to inform him that this Bill was actually accepted by the late Sir N. N. Sircar, who was the greatest authority on Hindu Law ?
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I am in a position to show, although not only he, but mere was a time when I also accepted it. ( Interruption ) . I beg to submit that I am in possession of the House.