Swarajya, April 15, 1961
Between ourselves, honest voter, these private monopolies created by the pernicious system of permits, licences, quotas and controls (to be extended now even to foreign capital which voluntarily comes into the private sector) make the Congress Party's rich friends richer, and the poor poorer. It is a close conspiracy; we have a battle between money and liberty, between dharma and atheism, between freedom and communism clothed in Congress robes.
When the Constitution was drafted and passed in 1950, the 19th and 31st articles thereof inscribed therein, as a fundamental right to be enforced by the courts against the government of the day, whichever it may be, the right of all citizens, without any discrimination against any of them, to practise any profession, to carry on any occupation, trade or business, to acquire, hold and dispose of property. These are the words of the Constitution. When, in contravention of this, the methods of communist countries in respect of citizen's properties were sought to be adopted the Congress Party was compelled by the adverse decisions of courts to amend the Constitution on several occasions. Amendment of the Constitution was easy enough, as there was a steamroller majority for the Congress Party. The original Constitution-makers solemnly adopted the articles to prevent socialistic expropriation and to give no room to the government for practising a fraud on powers by giving inadequate compensation for compulsory acquisition. The subsequent amendments were passed only to facilitate such a fraud.
The original sub-clause in the article permitting the imposition of restrictions on fundamental rights, in the interests of the general public, was in the course of the debate improved by the addition of the word 'reasonable' before the word 'restrictions', which was not in the first draft, but which was put in to give the courts the final voice regarding the legitimacy of such restrictions, and to prevent the nullification c@, the citizen's fundamental right by the exercise of the power to place restrictions in the interests of the general public. The Supreme Court was given the authority to examine and strike down any misuse of the powers.
Article 26 of the Constitution specifically laid down the right of every religious denomination, or any section thereof, to own and acquire movable and immovable property, and to administer such property in accordance with law. The State was not allowed to practise any kind of expropriation.
Article 31 laid down that no property, movable or immovable, or any interest in any company owning any commercial or industrial undertaking, shall be taken possession of or acquired for public purposes under any law, unless the- law provides for compensation for the property taken possession of or acquired.
It is obvious that the founders of the Constitution intended to provide not only against the 'socialistic pattern' but also against any misuse of powers to achieve such an object by indirect or devious means. This article of the original Constitution has been subsequently amended, so as to nullity the original intention.
There is a chapter in the Constitution dealing with policies and principles of government. The provisions of this article are not 'justiciable'. But the direction in this chapter is that the State shall stove to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may, a social order in which social, economic and political justice shall inform all the institutions of the national life. The State, according to this chapter, should direct its policy towards securing that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good, and the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means, of production to the common detriment. There is not a word here to support the false doctrines of egalitarianism. The principles enunciated are those that govern the laws of America against combines and monopolies. What the Congress regime now does, under its system of permits and licences, is exactly the opposite of what is laid down in the Constitution-they serve to concentrate wealth and the means of acquiring additional wealth on the few persons chosen by it for doing business or industrial production in several important lines and these monopolies created by the State in favour of chosen persons work to the common detriment.
There is not a word in the Constitution recommending the socialistic pattern or socialism but everything was done in anticipation to prevent such mischief. The present Government has not only disregarded the intent and purpose of the founders of the Constitution but has laid violent hands on the Constitution itself.
