Page 33 - A brief note on calligraphy of the Constitution of India in English and Hindi

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to your Ministry for sanction after obtaining the infor­
mal concurrence of the Honourable the Prime Minister.
The scheme was initiated by the Honourable the
President of the Constituent Assembly, and the matter
came to my hands since the 26th of January this year
as a legacy to be completed. No estimates were then
made, and, therefore, before I proceeded with the
matter further, I got rough estimates, and addressed
the Honourable the Prime Minister, who was good
enough to express his concurrence. I enclose herein
a copy of my letter No. D/505/50, dated the 2nd March,
1950, and a copy of the Honourable the Prime Minis­
ter's reply, No. 154-P.M., dated the 4th March, 1950.
Your Ministry, as I see from their note, agree that the
proposed expenditure is not any new service. They,
however, are inclined to think that it would be better
if the matter is placed before the Standing Finance
Committee, at its meeting coming off day after to­
morrow, as that would ease their course in arranging
for the demand for Supplementary Grant to be placed
before the Parliament.
I have no doubt that the Standing Finance Com­
mittee would approve the proposals, and I could have
no objection for scrutiny by not only any Committee,
but by any member, or even an outsider, of the propo­
sals. The difficulty is a constitutional one, and I think,
it would be a wrong procedure and a wrong precedent
to take to the Standing Finance Committee, or any
other Committee of the Parliament, any proposal con­
cerning the Parliament Secretariat.
I shall state the position shortly: —
It has been always recognised that the Parliament
Secretariat is independent and any matter relating
thereto cannot be the subject of criticism, question or
discussion in the House, as the Speaker is the head of
the Secretariat, and cannot be brought into the picture,
at any stage of discussions by the Parliament or its
Committees. Cut Motions and Questions have been
disallowed in pursuance of this parliamentary
practice.