Sir, Mr. K. T. Shah moved an amendment, I refer to amendment No. 1183. Of course, his whole scheme is that the charges should be preferred by the Lower House, that it must originate, that it must be initiated by the Lower House, and that it should be investigated by the Upper House. I do not subscribe to this particular proposition, that it should be initiated only by the Lower House; it may arise either in the Lower House or in the Upper House. But if it arises in either of the two Houses, the other House investigates it. I however support him in so far as amendment No. 1183 says that the House which investigates the charge and finds it to be sustained should not have the last word as regards the removal of the President. The resolution, or the charge, if found sustained by the other House, the House other than the House that preferred the charge, that resolution must go back to the House that preferred the charge, because the President should be impeached, and removed, not by the vote of one House only, but by the vote of both Houses. Therefore, it is important that in the constitution we should provide definitely, unambiguously and unequivocally that the President, if he is to be removed at all from his high office, must be removed by the vote of both Houses and not of one House only. The arguments advanced by Prof. K. T. Shah are sound. In the course of the trial, many months may elapse and it may be that certain prejudices and party passions which dictated the preferment of the charge might subside and perhaps when it goes back to the other House, it may be–I do not say it will always be so–it may be that the charge which was preferred by that House may be found, on further reflection that it could not be justly and fully sustained. So, both amendments No. 1183 and No. 1186 moved by Prof. K. T. Shah are important in this respect because they have the effect of removing the President of India by a vote of both the Houses and not by the vote of a single House, namely, the House which investigated the charge preferred by the other House and found it sustained on evidence advanced before it. Therefore, I think, Sir, that these amendments must be incorporated in some form or other in our Constitution. Just as in a criminal trial the Police hold a preliminary enquiry and then the case comes before a Court of law where the presiding officer is above the prosecution and above the defence, similarly when the charge preferred by the other House is investigated the presiding officer must be the Chief Justice of India because he is neither the Speaker of the House of People nor the Chairman of the Council of States. That is as regards the first amendment moved by my Friend Mr. Karimuddin.
