1084 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Dr. Ambedkar: There are hardly any greivances. From the papers that were handed over to me, it seems to me that the dispute is purely of a legal character. The municipality holds that they are licencees while the stallholders claim that they are lessees. The municipality says that since they are licencees, the municipality is entitled to remove them without any notice, while the stall-holders say that they are lessees and they must be governed by the terms of their leases. It is purely a legal dispute which can only be adjudicated by some court or judicial authority.
Shri Sidhva: Do these stall-holders pay rent under certain agreements to the effect that they will be known as licencees ?
Dr. Ambedkar: So far as I could understand and I speak subject to correction—they have been allowed to just sit and squat and do their business for the time being. But they say that they have been squatting so long that their licences have now matured into leases.
Several Hon. Members: No, they are not squatters.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Hon. Members cannot be educated in law. They probably want to know the difference between a licence and a lease.
Shri Sidhva: My question was whether they pay rents ?
Mr. Deputy Speaker: I am not going to allow opinions on legal questions.
Shri Sarangdhar Das: Besides the legal aspect of this matter, have there been any complaints about the nonavailability of water and lack of sanitary arrangements in the places where the stalls have been built ?
Mr. Deputy speaker: It does not arise out of this question. Was it for want of these amenities that the strike was started ?
Shri Sarangdhar Das: This was also a part of their grievances.
Dr. Ambedkar: So far as I know only because of the prosecutions launched by the Municipal Committee did the strike take place.