Mr. Vice-President, Sir, I want to support amendment No. 528 which seeks to incorporate the words “without due process of law” in substitution of the words “except according to procedure established by law”. In my humble opinion, if the clause stood as it is, it would have no meaning at all, because if the procedure prescribed by law were not followed by the courts, there would be the appeal court in every case, to set things right. This clause would only have meaning if the courts could examine not merely that the conviction has been according to law or according to proper procedure, but that the procedure as well as the substantive part of the law are such as would be proper and justified by the circumstances of the case. We want to set up a democracy; the House has said it over and over again; and the essence of democracy is that a balance must be struck between individual liberty on the one hand and social control on the other. We must not forget that the majority in a legislature is more anxious to establish social control than to serve individual liberty. Some scheme therefore must be devised to adjust the needs of individual liberty and the demands of social control. Eminent American constitutional lawyers are agreed on the point that no better scheme could have been evolved to strike a balance between the two. Of course, as the House knows, lawyers delight to disagree and there is a certain volume of opinion against it in America, but as pointed out by my honourable Friend, Mr. C. C. Shah, we have made drastic changes in the American clause. The American clause says that no person shall be deprived of his life, liberty or property without due process of law. That clause created great difficulties with regard to laws relating to property. That word has been omitted. The word `liberty’ was construed widely so as to cover liberty of contract and that word has been qualified. This clause is now restricted to liberty of the person, that is, nobody can be convicted, sent to jailor be sentenced to death without due process of law. That is the narrow meaning of this clause which is now sought to be incorporated by amendment No. 528.
