PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 953
If the State can undertake to feed the population whom it has deprived of compensation, then of course, in those circumstances, the theory that no-compensation shall be paid is a valid one. Why do you want compensation ? Compensation is necessary simply because the State has deprived an individual of his instruments of earning a living. You cannot deprive a man of the instruments of his earnings and at the same time say, “Go and feed yourself”. That theory, in my judgement, is a very barbarous one. It is therefore not possible to accept it. But why can we not accept the theory that just compensation means compensation determined by the law of Parliament ? Why not ? It does not mean that Parliament shall make a law exactly in terms of the Land Acquisition Act. You can scrap the Land Acquisition Act. You have a right to do so because it is within the purview of both Parliament and the State Legislatures. It can enact a new Land Acquisition Act with a new set of principles. There is no harm in doing that and no difficulty for doing that. If you do that, well, nobody can have a right to complain because when you bring forth such a measure for determining compensation by law, all sections of the House will have a right to say what they have to say. It would be the result of common agreement. If one Parliament finds certain principles to be good and another Parliament finds that those principles are bad, Parliament may change but it should all be done and it can be done by Parliament. Therefore my suggestion to the Government is this, that rather than bring in this kind of a Bill, a bald one and, as I am going to show later, really a very trifling thing, its corpse ought to be carried unwept, and unsung and nobody ought to cry over it. I am not going to cry over it because it is not going to do any good or going to do any harm, as I will show. Therefore, my suggestion to the Government was this that rather than keep on encroaching upon these fundamental rights from time to time, it is much better to give Parliament once for all the power to determine compensation. This tampering with the Constitution from time to time is a bad thing. I said so last time but I don’t suppose the Government has cared to pay any heed. I would like to repeat the same caution again and I should like to