Mr. Vice-President, Sir, my amendment No. 523 sought the substitution of the words “without due process of law” for the words “except according to procedure established by law”. This article guarantees the personal liberty and life of the citizen. In democratic life, liberty is guaranteed through law. Democracy means nothing except that instead of the rule by an individual, whether a king or a despot, or a multitude, we will have the rule of the law. Sir, the term “without due process of law” has a necessary limitation on the powers of the State, both executive and legislative. The doctrine implied by “without due process of law” has a long history in Anglo-American law. It does not lay down a specific rule of but it implies a fundamental principle of justice. These words have nowhere been defined either in the English Constitution or in the American Constitution but we can find their meaning through reading the various antecedents of this expression. As a matter of fact, it can be traced back to the days of King John when the barons wrung their charter from him, i.e., the Magna Carta. The expression “Per Legum Terrea” in the Magna Carta have come to mean “without due process of law”. Chapter 39 of the Charter says:- “No free man shall be taken, or imprisoned, diseased, or outlawed, exiled, or in any way destroyed; nor shall we go upon him, nor send upon him, but by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.”
