Mr. President, Sir, the provision of this article 112 are very important and very comprehensive. It lays down one important principle of Constitution, namely, that while in the scheme of the Government of India Act, the executive was all powerful and both the legislature and the judiciary were subrodinate to it, this article, a provision of which type has not found a place in the Government of India Act of 1935, has given a status to the judiciary, equivalent and in no way subordinate to the executive and legislature. Therefore, Sir, this comprehensive does a great deal of good to the people and gives them the right appeal from the High Courts. Sir, I support the provisions of this article and I would further add that this article gives ample power to do justice in the hands of the Supreme Court and with these provisions in the Draft Constitution, I do not find any justification or any necessity whatsoever of making any provision with regard to the criminal appeals to the Supreme Court. Much has been said about the power of the Supreme Court with regard to the appeals in the case of death sentences. I would submit respectfully that one fundamental principle has been ignored all through the discussion, that is, to appeal with regard to death sentence and in the matter of criminal justice it is not only the question of the liberty of the person or the liberty of the accused that is in question, but there is a further question and that is the stability of the State and the peace in the land. You cannot go on prolonging the decision with regard to the crime done by a man against the State for a very long time. It would be detrimental to the State and it is a pernicious principle to hold that the life of a person or his liberty is sacred as such without any regard to the stability of the State or the peace of the land. They are contingent; everything in the State, whether it is the life of the individual, whether it is the liberty of the individual has to be considered, to be cared for, if it is not dangerous or detrimental to the stability of the state, to the peace of the land; and in taking these two fundamental question, if the criminal law is administered in accordance with these two fundamental principles, liberty of the accused and the stability of the State, I submit, Sir, this article provides ample safeguard. There is enough safeguard with regard to the justice being done to the individual whether in a civil case or in any order, or in a criminal case. Sir, I support the article.
