30 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Anybody who reads section 206 will find that although the power to amend and enlarge the jurisdiction of the Federal Court is given to this Assembly, it is limited in certain particulars. It is limited to civil cases. Therefore no provision can be made for the abolition of direct appeals in criminal matters. Secondly, it refers to direct appeals, that is to say appeals from the High Court to the Privy Council. The reason why we are not able to abolish appeals from the Federal Court to the Privy Council is because of the existence of Section 208 in the Government of India Act. Section 208 says: (a) that an appeal will lie to His Majesty in council from a decision of the Federal Court, from any judgment of the Federal Court given in the exercise of its original jurisdiction in any dispute which concerns the interpretation of this Act and (b) in any other case, by leave of the Federal Court or of His Majesty in Council. What I wanted to tell the House was that if it was desirable to abolish all appeals to the Privy Council and to enlarge the jurisdiction of the Federal Court in as complete a manner as we want to do for that purpose we would have been required to hold a session of the Constituent Assembly and ask the Constituent Assembly to pass a Bill, which it can do, notwithstanding any limitation in the Government of India Act 1935, for the simple reason that the Constituent Assembly is a sovereign body and is not bound by the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935. The position of this Legislature which is spoken of as the Dominion Legislature is very different. It is Governed by the Government of India Act of 1935 and therefore it must conform in anything that it wants to do to such provisions of the Act which permit it to do what it wants to do. As I said, the only permissive section which we have in the Government of India Act is Section
206 and we have taken the fullest liberty of this section to enlarge the jurisdiction of the Federal Court to the fullest extent possible. The deficiencies in the Bill I do not think need worry any Members of the Legislature for the simple reason that this Act will be in operation only for a very short time. As soon as our constitution is framed and a passed by the Constituent Assembly, we shall then be in a position to make the amplest provision for the jurisdiction of the Federal Court and to abolish appeals to the Privy Council. For the moment I think the house must be satisfied with what is done under Section 206. Sir, I move.