514 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
alteration in the disqualification clause introduced by the Select Committee in sub-clause ( d ) of clause 7. This change is proposed by two members of the Select Committee, Mr. Gokulbhai Bhatt and my friend, Mr. Goenka. Among themselves they do not seem to be ad idem. Mr. Bhatt has no objection to the disqualification relating to holding of a contract to continue as it is. His only objection is to the holding of licences or permits, but my hon. friend, Mr. Goenka objects to both. As I said, these provisions did not exist in the original Bill; they were introduced by the Select Committee. I do not mind giving to the House my own personal reactions to these additional provisions. The first thing I feel is that there is no doubt that the clauses, as worded in the Select Committee draft of the Bill, appear to be somewhat severe. I personally feel that we could make a distinction between disqualification for being chosen and disqualification for continuing to be Members of Parliament. We ourselves have been making that distinction. I do not quite understand what difficulty or political injustice can arise if we said that while persons holding a contract from Government or having a licence from Government are free to stand as candidates for election they would become disqualified for continuing to be Members of Parliament. I cannot see any difficulty in making a provision of this sort. In other words, we may permit a holder of a contract or a holder of a licence to stand as a candidate. After he has been elected, he may be presented with this alternative, either he gives up his contract and continues to be a Member of Parliament or he decides not to be a member of Parliament and continues his contract……
Pandit Maitra (West Bengal) : Whichever is more profitable ?
Dr. Ambedkar: Whatever it is, my point is this. I think it would be too much to say that none of these people shall be entitled to stand as a candidate. There may be something in the argument that they should not continue to be Members of Parliament. I think we could make that change.
Shri Sidhva (Madhya Pradesh) : Has Government any view on this ?