8 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
to give the whole of its time to codifying the whole of the law on a particular subject it tries to discharge its responsibilities by undertaking what we call
4-00 p.m. fragmentary and piecemeal legislation. This accumulation of piecemeal and fragmentary legislation again in course of time creates a problem. People cannot understand what the law is and consequently a problem of codifications arises. Therefore, it needs no special pleading to suggest that a Statute Law Revision Committee is necessary. I think the Government of India long ago accepted the necessity of having a Statute Law Revision Committee. In fact as soon as the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms came into operation and when it was found that there was a popular legislature and that popular legislature was more likely to undertake legislation of social reform than the previous legislatur had been likely to do, the Government of India pari passau and simultaneously with the introduction of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms introduced and established what was called a Statutory Law Revision Committee in 1921. Therefore there is no difficulty in my accepting the underlying purpose which my honourable Friend Sir Hari Singh Gour has in mind, namely, that there should be a Statute Law Revision Committee. The only point of difference between him and me is whether we should forthwith proceed to establish a Statute Law Revision Committee that he has in mind or whether we should leave the matter to Government to think about the most appropriate time and the most appropriate machinery which could carry out the purpose which both he and myself have in mind.
In regard to the Statutory Law Revision Committee of the type that was set up in 1921, I should like to inform the House of the work that it did and whether it could not have done something better. The Statute Law Revision Committee was appointed in 1921 and lasted up to 1932, After 1932 it died ; whether it died a natural death or an unnatural death is not a matter which I propose to disquisition about. But I should like to tell the House that during these eleven years that the Committee was in session from time to time, the work that it did was the codification of the Merchant Shipping Act, the Criminal Tribes Act, the Indian Succession Act, the