Mr. President, Sir, this clause gives the President over-riding powers over the entire National Assembly. We have been accustomed to ordinance rule long enough and I wish that now when we are framing the Constitution of free India, we do not provide for this power again. Sir, even during the Great War, the President of the United States of America and the Premier of England did not have the power. When we start our free Constitution we should try and follow the same canons of democracy which have been followed in these great countries. This sort of Power, Once given, is bound to the abused. When this power is given, it is often used even for small things. In fact even during this one year since our Ministries have come to power, we got so many ordinances. I therefore think that if this sort of power is given, it will be the very negation of democracy. I think that we must not take this legacy of autocracy from the past slavery of our country into the free India which we are constructing today and we must therefore see that this thing is not given any place in our new Constitution. After all, if there is a grave emergency, our National Parliament will be ever ready to meet the situation. In Britain and in America they have been able to carry on their work without any such powers even during the last great war when their very existence was at stake. An fact, Mr. Churchill used to take the House of Commons into confidence publicly even in the darkest periods during the Great War. This raised the morale of the people tremendously and rallied their wholehearted support in a manner which no other method could have secured. Rule by ordinance has always been hateful to the people. I do not think that our Premiers and our great leaders are so much desirous of having this clause. I strongly feel that this is a step which negatives the entire Constitution. Besides, it is not proper to give such over-riding powers to a man who is not elected by adult suffrage as this will negative the democratic character of the entire Constitution. I, therefore, suggest that we should make no provision for this clause in our new Constitution.
