Sir, there are two items in this list which are relevant to be considered in connection with the amendment that has been moved. The first is item 26 which we are considering now. The other one is item 71 ‘Duties of Customs including export duties’. Now Sir, if the amendment has reference only to the right of a Federated State, situated on the frontier of the Federation, to continue to levy its own Customs duties, this particular amendment would more relevantly come up for consideration under item 71. I should say, Sir, that item 26 refers only to legislation which has reference to import and export across customs frontiers. As there is a separate item relating to the levy of duties of customs, I take it that any Court will interpret this item 26 as not covering the levy of duties of customs, assuming that item 71 is also going to remain in our list. So, on that ground, this amendment does not call for consideration at the present moment. Mr. Himmat Singh, however, raised another issue of some importance and that was the right of a Federated State to levy and to vary from time to time customs duties on its own frontier. These frontiers may not be the frontiers of the Federation. They might merely be frontiers between one State and another or one State and the rest of India. With regard to the continuance of these rights, the whole thing will depend upon what conclusions we reach as regards the distribution of financial resources between the Federal Centre and the Federal Units. That also will come up later for consideration in connection with this report. I might say, in order to remove any possible misapprehensions that may be in the minds of representatives of States, that, if on account of powers taken by the Federation as regards customs duties in general, even customs duties between the frontiers of one unit and another, the financial equilibrium of a unit gets upset, the Federation is not likely to run away form the responsibility of making that units solvent. That is as much as it is necessary for me to say at the present moment. If any proposals of this kind should be made at the time we come to consider the distribution of financial resources, I shall elaborate this particular point. In view of this I hope Mr. Himmat Singh K. Maheshwari will not press his amendment.
