DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 1095
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Now that this Bill is confined to marriage and divorce, the hon. Member may show how far this is retrograde or inconsistent with his law and what is the harm in adopting this.
Sardar B. S. Man : I am quoting exactly those laws which relate to marriage and divorce here. By the present law, certain prohibited degrees are sought to be introduced. I am proving that the prohibited degrees now sought to be introduced have never applied during the history of the Sikhs.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Cannot that be an exception ? As in the case of customs in the south allowing the marriage of maternal uncle’s daughter, which have been validated, any deviation from the generally prohibited degrees will also be put in as an exception.
Sardar B. S. Man: Exactly, Sir, you are coming to my rescue. If the Hon. Law Minister says that so far as marriage customs are concerned, they will respect the customs of the Punjab or the customs of the Sikhs, I will have no quarrel ; I shall sit down.
Shri Bharati: May I draw his attention to part (5) of cause 7 where it is provided, “unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a sacramental marriage between the two”. Custom is a local thing and that has overriding effect. We have already provided for all that, not only for south India. Where the custom provides for such a thing, it is straightway concerned.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava : But what he wants is that all the things incidental to marriage should also be governed by custom. That is what he is pointing out.
Shri Bharati : But he was speaking about prohibitive degrees and I pointed out that the necessary provisions are already there for these exceptions.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: No law says that a sister can marry a brother. There are prohibitive degrees accepted by courts and if there are other cases or other degrees, whether they come under clause 5 or clause 7 or any other clause, suitable amendments can be suggested and the matter discussed.
Sardar B. S. Man : My point is, since exceptions are made in the case of Muslims and Christians because their personal law is entirely different, why should we, though we are numerically small, not have the same...
Mr. Deputy Speaker : The hon. Member need not repeat his arguments over and over again. He has already stated that just like the Muslims, the Sikhs too should be excluded.