580 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Shri Hanumanthaiya: As the Deputy Speaker pointed out, it may be between the Returning Officer and the Assistant Returning Officer but what about the candidates in the election ?
Dr. Ambedkar: It is quite enough for the candidate to prove that the Returning Officer was absent. Whether he was absent for any unavoidable reason or not is a matter to be regulated by the Election Commissioner.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: It has to be proved whether he was unvoidably prevented or not.
Shri Raj Bahadur: May I put a question to Mr. Hanumanthaiya ? Who will decide whether the absence was unavoidable or not; Election commissioner or the officer concerned ? The Election Commissioner knows whether he was unavoidably absent or not.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: The Tribunal shall have to decide if he was unavoidably prevented.
Shri Shiv Charan lal (Uttar Pradesh) : I think it will be all right if only one line is added, that if there are more than one Assistant Returning Officer, the Returning Officer shall nominate one of them as the seniormost one.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: That has already been said. That is Mr. Kapoor’s amendment. Now, I shall put Mr. Kapoor’s amendment to the House.
Shri Hanumanthaiya: I want to make a motion...
Mr. Deputy Speaker: That we will come to later.
Shri Hanumanthaiya : With respect to this clause I make a definite motion that this clause may be taken up later for consideration.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: The question is:
“That further consideration of clause 20 be postponed.”
The motion was negatived.