Subsequently apparently my honourable Friend found out his mistake and has sought to amend the body of sub-clause (1) of article 60, which limits the power of the Federation in regard to executive matters and completely prevents it from exercising it in the field of Concurrent legislation. Well, that, Sir, the House is aware, will mean going back on the present provisions of the Government of India Act. The position was remedied by my honourable Friend Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru. With his characteristic precision he framed an amendment which will exactly fit in with the position that was envisaged in the Government of India Act of 1935. It does not concede any more executive power to the Centre than what it has under the Government of India Act, 1935. Sir, there is also a considerable amount of difference in the approach of the Movers of the two amendments. The three speakers who supported the amendment of Mr. Ibrahim, including the mover, objected to the proviso to article 60(1) on political grounds. My honourable Friend Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru objected to it on theoretical grounds. Let me first deal with my honourable Friend Pandit Kunzru’s objections. He said that Federation or Federalism in the Draft Constitution before the House will become a farce if the position that is taken up by the Government of India Act in regard to the sphere of executive action that could be exercised by the Central Government in the concurrent field is changed, if the i’s are dotted or the t’ s are crossed. Pandit Kunzru is a person who is well known for his wide reading. His experience is profound and I shall not seek to contravene his right to lay down the law. But, nevertheless, he made a fundamental mistake in saying that there is a particular type of federalism or constitution which alone can be called federal and that the word ‘Federal’ or ‘Federalism’ had a complete connotation of its own, excluding every possible inroad into it. I must also point out that Pandit Kunzru made a big blunder in characterising our draft Constitution as being something which would not be federal if the proviso of the article is retained.
