520 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Shri Shyamnandan Sahaya (Bihar) : Cannot the matter be raised before the Election Commission ?
Dr. Ambedkar : It is unnecessary to go to that length; The remedy is very simple, as I have already explained.
Well, then. If my friend’s contention is that the holding of an office of profit is not a good ground for disqualifying them, then the House in enacting a provision for disqualifying them, must, of course, have some justification. Referring, for instance, to the composition of the House of Commons it may be pointed out that the clergy of England are disqualified for being members of the House of Commons. Similarly a person holding a peerage which entitles him to sit in the House of Lords is a disqualification for being a Member of the House of Commons. Now, in both these cases there is ample justification why they are disqualified. If my friend were to study the history of the case, he will know that the clergy were disqualified by the Act of 1801 because it was felt that under the Protestant Revolution when the State became the head of the Church or when the Church and the State became one—what are called allow-sons—that is to say, churches where service is offered and payments made, these became a sort of gift in the hands of the State and consequently it was felt that churchmen and priests were holders of offices of profit and therefore they must be disqualified. With regard to members of the House of Lords being disqualified from being members of the House of Commons, there again the justification is quite obvious, namely that a person cannot be a member of two Houses. This is the principle which we have also embodied. Therefore the disqualification of these two classes of people, although it exists in England is founded on the two justifications which I have given. If my friend could suggest some justification other than the ground of office of profit, it would be open to consider whether such a justification is valid here,
Dr. Parmar (Himachal Pardesh) : Can the Princes not be excluded on the ground that they are political pensioners ?
Dr. Ambedkar: I do not know why political pensions should be regarded a disqualification. Of course, as