PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 735
Mr. Deputy Speaker: With respect to the past, there have been varying amounts paid: Rs. 40, 50, etc.
Shri Sondhi: Forty rupees is the maximum.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: If the hon. Member brings these matters to the notice of the Law Minister, he will go into them instead of throwing open the floodgates and making it appear that we are trying to bring in the immunity to a vast number of members. Let us not lay ourselves open to that kind of accusation.
An Hon. Member: That is only for the past.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: If any particular categories are there, they may be brought to the notice of the Law Minister and he will look into them.
Dr. Ambedkar: In this case, the resolution mentioned Rs. 20.
Pandit Kunzru: Before the discussion is adjourned till tomorrow, I might make a suggestion. The whole trouble has arisen because the Finance Ministry has decided that if any member receives a daily allowance of more than Rs. 20 for serving on a committee, he shall be regarded as holding an office of profit. If the Ministry decides that the limit should be increased from Rs. 20 to Rs. 40 which is the daily allowance drawn by a Member of Parliament for attending the meetings of Parliament, these troubles will disappear. I suppose that if this view had been accepted by the Finance Ministry, the Bill now brought forward by Dr. Ambedkar would not have been necessary. This Bill has been made necessary by the low limit fixed by the Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry can do away with all this trouble and set the minds of hon. Members at ease by simply announcing that if a member receives an allowance not exceeding the daily allowance to which a Member of Parliament is entitled for attending the meetings of Parliament, he will not be regarded as holding an office of profit. No doubts will arise and no Bill will be necessary.
Dr. Ambedkar: I would just like to say one word of correction to what my hon. friend has said. What the Finance