938 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
either with the permission of the magistrate or without the permission of the magistrate are offences which involve hurt, grievous hurt, confinement of a person or kidnapping his relation or something like that. All of them are compoundable, absolutly, every one of them. Therefore, it follows that unless you make a. specific and express provision in this Bill, all the offences, if they involve social boycott—this is not mentioned in the Penal Code at all and it is not an offence except conspiracy—and such other acts which involve hurt or violence, so far as section 345 is concerned, will become compoundable and the Bill will be reduced to a complete nullity. It would be a farce. Therefore, my hon. Friend will look into this matter and see—he would be entitled, of course, to take the advice of the Law Ministry—whether within the terms of section
345 of the Criminal Procedure Code these offences would be compoundable, and if so, whether it is not necessary to make an express provision in this Bill to say that offences involving untouchability shall not be regarded as compoundable.
Now, Sir, I come to the question of certain defective provisions. I have said about omissions and I want to say something about the defective provisions. The first such provision to which I shall refer is the clause relating to punishment, which is clause 8. The punishment prescribed in the Bill is six months’ imprisonment or fine which may extend to Rs. 500 or both. My hon. Friend was very eloquent on the question of punishment. He said that the punishment ought to be very very light and I was wondering whether he was pleading for a lighter punishment because he himself wanted to commit these offences. He said, “Let the punishment be very light so that no grievance shall be left in the heart of the offender”. I suppose his primary premise is that the offenders who offend the untouchables are really very kindly people, overwhelming with love and kindness and that this is merely an errant act which really ought to be forgiven. It is a matter of great solace to me that he has not prescribed the punishment of being warned and then discharged. That I think would be the best section 561 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Yes, that would be the best; if our object is