892 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
are today, This Hindu Code will be more or less a Special Hindu Marriage Code. It will be something like that. Even now a Hindu can marry within a prohibited degree if he makes a declaration as is required under the Civil Marriages Act. Similarly, if this Hindu Code would only govern those who would make a declaration that they want to be governed by it, I believe that two-thirds—not twothirds but nearly cent per cent—of the Hindus would refuse to come forward and make declaration in the manner which has been suggested by my Friend Mr. Kapoor. That will mean practically that this Code will be shelved and the Hindu Law which governs us today will continue to govern us.
I was very much interested to bear about this Punjab Customary Laws Act. This Punjab Customary Laws Act, as was admitted by my hon. friend Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava who referred to it in this House, did not prohibit bigamy at all. What my hon. Friend Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava wants is that the Punjab should be absolutely left out of this Hindu Code, that this Hindu Code may be in force in the rest of India but not in the Punjab—which means that although bigamy may be an offence in India, it will not be an offence in the Punjab and my hon. friend may go on merrily as he likes. I do not understand this, and I hope my Hon. Friend Dr. Ambedkar will be able to explain the position to us. It is this. When custom has got the force of law and that custom becomes invariable, no legislation can really over-ride it. Ordinarily if you are going to prove a custom, the burden is on you to prove that the custom is invariable, that the custom is not immoral, and that the custom has been followed. But when that custom is embodied in a piece of legislation which has been in force for some time and when that custom has not been abrogated, has been recognized. I do not understand how the application of the provisions of this Code can in any way interfere with that customary law unless it is stated clearly that all that law has been repealed by this Code. I may not have thoroughly studied the Hindu Code, but my impression is that no such provision has been made in this Code to repeal the Customary Law Act of the Punjab. And if that stands unrepealed you shall have inconsistent legislation in this country. Hindus in the whole of India will be governed by the Hindu Code, but those in the province of Punjab, where customary laws have been codified and are in force, will remain unaffected by this Code. I will ask the hon. lady Members of this House whether they are prepared