Mr. Vice-President, Sir, I think the honourable Member who spoke against my honourable Friend Mr. Kamath’s amendment got that there was an amendment by my honourable Friend Mr. Mahavir Tyagi which leaves it free to those who do not believe in God to affirm solemnly the words of the oath. The only point before the House is, when a person believes in God, is he to swear by God or swear by somebody else? The amendment of my honourable Friend Mr. Kamath as amended by my honourable Friend Mr. Mahavir Tyagi’s amendment fulfils the true criterion that when a man actually believes in God, he must swear by Him and not merely swear without His name or in the name of somebody else. We know in the olden days people used to swear by the cow’s tail or by the peepul tree. The idea is that swearing must be in the name of God, in the most solemn belief that a man possesses.
