Yes; whether with the consent of the Senate or not, the appointing authority is the President. Therefore the President will give the choice only to his nominee and so, whether it is A, B, C, or D, he will nominate only those people who conform to his views, especially on the most important questions. But barring the appointing authority, so far as the independence of the judiciary, is concerned, we have provided for such independence in our Constitution as in any other Constitution. Therefore the real issue is regarding the merits of the Presidential and Parliamentary types of executive. Sir, two or three years ago I was myself strongly inclined towards the presidential type of executive for the Central Government of India, but after listening to the discussions and after further consideration, I am now convinced that it is not perhaps as desirable for the country as I once thought it was because, Sir, the future of this country is that of an economic State. If we are to be mainly a police State, certainly the separation of the executive and the legislature will be of great importance. If strength and stability are the only considerations or even the main considerations to be borne in mind in framing the Constitution of India, then I do think that there is a strong case for the presidential executive but today what is more important than stability or strength is quick economic progress. Even our stability, even our strength will be dependent upon the tempo in which the economic reconstruction of India can be proceeded with. I believe that Prof. K. T. Shah is very anxious that the Indian economy should be reconstructed on socialist lines as quickly as possible, but if there is presidential executive, I think his desires in this respect will be greatly checkmated. One of the defects of the presidential system is that the executive and the legislature may be at loggerheads very frequently. This has been the case in the United States, and when they are at loggerheads for a period of three or four years till either the legislature is renewed or the President is re-elected, the whole thing will be a deadlock. Sir, I do not think in this country we could afford to lose even a period of three or four years in such conflicts. All the advantages of the presidential executive in the form of a free hand for the President and stability for the executive will be lost even if a small period of conflict arises. Sir, we have to-socialise many industries, establish new corporations, create new forms of credit, for all of which the daily co-operation of the executive and the legislature is of the greatest importance. Unless this co-operation is forthcoming at least in the formative period of Indian freedom, then our progress which has already been delayed by the foreign rule will be further delayed and popular impatience at the delay of economic reconstruction will break all bounds and ordered democracy may become impossible. Therefore, Sir, as the Central Government is going to be vested with more powers than I had thought, as we are to be a little more unitary than federal, it is all the more essential that the executive and the Parliament at the Centre should form one integral whole and function as one unit. Unless they do so, the whole progress of the country will be delayed. If on the other hand we had trusted provincial autonomy to a far greater extent and left all constructive programmes and economic reconstruction to the units, then I would have been for responsible government in the provinces and presidential executive at the Centre, for then the Center’s business will be only to keep India safe and united and to allow the units to function in the economic sphere freely; but it has been considered desirable–and on very strong grounds–that the Central Government of India should have an active, continuous and formative part in the economic reconstruction of the whole country and for this purpose only a responsible Cabinet or the Parliamentary executive will suffice. Therefore I hope Prof. K. T. Shah will reconsider his views and withdraw his amendment. In any case, I oppose the amendment.
