728 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Therefore, when Parliament appoints a committee, or when Government proposes that a certain Member of Parliament be appointed to a certain committee, it is then that the Member concerned may rise and ask the Prime Minister or the Minister in charge of the Ministry who is appointing the Committee to let him know right then what is going to be his position, whether he will be disqualified or not, and he can demand from the Minister an assurance or a contemporary resolution to be accepted by Parliament that “in this particular case any Member appointed to the committee shall not be deemed to be disqualified”.
Shri Sondhi: If it is a Government committee ?
Dr. Ambedkar: Even then Members of Parliament must protect themselves and a Member of Parliament can protect himself by asking for an assurance from the Government that whatever be the other matters he shall not be deemed to be disqualified. When such an assurance is given, obviously Government cannot go behind such an assurance.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: Only under Article 102 a law must be passed by Parliament declaring that office to be not one of profit.
Dr. Ambedkar: We are dealing with specific case. As regards Parliament passing a general law, I do not know what that general law can do. It can, so far as I can imagine, say that whenever a Member of Parliament is appointed to a committee the members whereof receive an allowance which may be described as profit—in that very case Parliament can state as they do in England—that the appointment of the Member shall not be deemed to be an office of profit.
Shri Kamath : Can we not lay down a uniform procedure ?
Dr. Ambedkar: I cannot, for the simple reason that the basic allowance may change.
Shri Kamath : Still we can lay down a uniform procedure.
Dr. Ambedkar: It is possible for Parliament to do so. I do not know what time we have. But the next Parliament can pass a small Act saying that whenever any Member of