924 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
incidents that mar the social life of the West. I do not say that our society does not want changes, it does. Have changes by revolution or evolution as you like but let proper consideration be given to them before you launch on a legislation of this character.
While talking of marriage under this Code, my hon. friend from Bihar, who is a jurist of eminence, stated that in marriage, the husband and wife are partners. I join issue with him on that. The Bill does not make them partners. If they were partners I would have little difficulty in accepting it. But the Law Minister is bringing contractual relations, thereby doing away with the sanctity of marriages enjoined by samskara. He is introducing contractual relationship of the Western type into our society and enforcing it in all its rigidity by means of registration. Are you going to have legislation for ‘haves’ or ‘have nots’ ? If you want to have legislation for ‘haves’ by all means have it with all your pleaders, vakils advocates, etc…….
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : ‘haves’ do you mean those who have wives ?
Shri Biswanath Das : I am not concerned with them. You go to the mofussil. India lives in its villages and Indian life is village life. Barring the few upper class people, the rest of the people celebrate their marriages for ten, 15 or even less in some cases. You are now going to have registration departments with all their formalities, making it more expensive.
I want to know from my hon. friend whether he has calculated what the expense under this head is going to be to the State. I record my strongest caveat in this regard against the Bills that have been thrust upon this House without any calculation of the expenditure that a Bill entails on State Treasury in its operation. I was a member of the old legislative council and I know that under the Devolution Rules it was a part of the business of the then irresponsible Government to calculate the financial implications of each Bill. I have a claim to ask my hon. friend to give us the financial implications of a Bill of this important nature and the expenditure it will involve on the State treasury.
[M R . S PEAKER in the Chair ]
You are going to have your cases mostly decided by the district court, which means a higher court than the Munsiff’s court. As a member I am being called upon to give my assent to this Bill. I have a right to know what is the money that I have to spend under each