372 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
The House reassembled Half Past Three of the Clock.
[ P ANDIT T HAKUR D AS B HARGAVA in the Chair ]
- Shri Hussain Imam: I wish to draw the attention of the House that no zamindar in his senses objects to the dictum laid down by the Constitution or by the Hon. the Prime Minister. The whole quarrel arises whether the intention of the Constitution is carried out or something is being foisted on us in the name of the Constitution which is not covered by the terms of the Constitution as embodied in the Constitution Act. And secondly……
An hon. Member: We are amending the Constitution.
Shri Hussain Imam: No. What we are doing is, according to the Prime Minister to carry out the intentions of the Constitution which our wording had failed to do. And there I am at one with him, that as a member of the Constituent Assembly, I am as much a party in this—though I was not present on that day—as anybody else is. There were two cardinal principles of the Constitution—firstly about the Acts which are passed after the Constitution came into effect and those Acts which were passed upto 18 months before the Constitution was brought into effect. Now I ask you, the House and the Law Minister to certify that the eleven Acts are covered by these two categories. Only four Acts come under the category that are passed after the Constitution and had received the assent of the President. Seven Acts are not covered by this.
Dr. Ambedkar: They were assented, I understand.
Shri Hussain Imam : None, except the four. They are the Bihar Act, U. P. Act, Madhya Pradesh Act and the other Act. All the rest have not been assented to.
Shri Bharati (Madras) : Madras Act has been assented to.
Shri Hussain Imam: Madras Act I of 1950 has been assented to, not the 1948 Act. I refer to this fact because in the beginning I spoke on the subject and suggested that ample time should be given to the House and to the Select Committee to examine these thoroughly ……
- P. D., Vol. 12., Part II, 1st June 1951, pp. 9906-07.