Sir, coming now to my next amendment, 581, I may say that this brief monosyllabic amendment seeks to substitute the word ‘or’ by the word ‘and’. In this amendment I wish to make a last attempt towards safeguarding the liberty of the individual. Of course this liberty cannot be safeguarded absolutely, because there is no absolute individual liberty nor is there any absolute safeguard against the violation of such liberty by the executive. I only wish to safeguard it in so far as it does not jeopardise the security of the State. If the article stands as it is, then it would mean that if Parliament lays down in a class of cases the maximum period of preventive detention, then, even without recourse to the machinery of the Advisory Board, a person can be detained upto the maximum period to two or three years–whatever period Parliament may prescribe. Clause (4) refers to two classes of cases; in one category fall those whose cases have been referred to the Advisory Board and who have been detained for more than three months; and, in the other cases of those who have been detained in accordance with the provisions of any law made by Parliament under clause (7).
