The Government of India Act was controlled in this respect by the U. K. Interpretation Act of 1889, and this clause (2) of Article 303 is similar to that provision in the Government of India Act. It, therefore, follows that in the interpretation of this Constitution, we should have regard to the General Clauses Act. And the General Clauses Act definitely provides for this thing, that the words “from time to time” need not be repeated again and again. If we say that the President can give a ruling on points of order, it implies that he can give the ruling as and when occasions arise, from time to time. So in practical life, and in daily drafting of Statutes, we find it as an invariable rue that this phrase is not repeated, here and there, and now and again. In this Constitution itself, the words “from time to time” do not appear everywhere. The House will see that in Article 2, line 1, the expression ‘from time to time’ appears. “Parliament may, from time to time…” do certain things. But coming to Article 3, we merely find “Parliament may, by law……” and no ‘from time to time’ occurs there. There are numerous other places where the words ‘from time to time’ in a similar context do not appear. I submit that the drafting should be uniform. If in one place we introduce the phrase ‘from time to time’, and if we do not introduce it in another analogous place, the argument may be made that in one place the power may be exercised from time to time, and in the other place it may not be exercised from time to time. It is this reason that I say that there should be some uniformity in the matter of drafting. The words ‘from time to time’ must be excluded. But if they have to be introduced at all, they have got to be introduced in all other similar places.
