JURIST
SIR B. N. RAU - A GOLDEN PAGE OF INDIAN LEGAL HISTORY
K G Krishnamurthy
Principal
Vivekananda Law College
Puttur, Karnataka
Benegal Narsing Rau popularly known as B. N. Rau was a civil servant, jurist, diplomat and statesman known
for his key role in drafting the Constitution
of India. He was the first to draft the Indian Constitution.
We people from Mangaluru region of Karnataka (earlier Part of Madras) must be
proud of him for his contributions in totality. In Bhagavadgeetha, SriKrishna
preached us as to how to lead our life in this world. Like wise, B.N.Rau
formulated the principles of governance for the Modern Democratic India. It is
an attempt to remember and make it known to new generations. The following are
the some interesting excerpts from Constituent Assembly Debates and other pages
which describes his life and role of the Rau in preparing the text Constitution
for India.
Life of Sir B.N.Rau
Narsing Rau
was born in Mangaluru on
26 February 1887 in a family of intellectuals. His father Benegal Raghavendra
Rau was an eminent doctor, belonged to Chitrapur Saraswats community and a brother of Benegal Rama Rau who “used to sign on notes”
(former Governor of Reserve Bank of India).
Narsing Rau passed Matriculation in 1901 from the Canara High School,
Mangaluru, topping the list of students of the entire Madras
Presidency. He stood first in the entire
University in the F.A. (Intermediate) examination and gained his degree with
First Class marks in English, Sanskrit, and Mathematics. On a scholarship, he
proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, and took his Tripos in 1909.
A graduate of the Universities of Madras
and Cambridge, Rau qualified and entered the Indian civil service in 1910. After
returned to India he was posted to Bengal. He was entrusted with the job of revising entire
Indian statutory code including Hindu Code Bill which
he accomplished during the period 1935–37. For this work, he was
knighted by the British government in 1938. He was elevated as Judge
of the Bengal High Court at Calcutta (1939). The Indus Commission
appointed in 1941 was headed by B N Rau. This Report is still the
basis for water sharing between India and Pakistan. His immense ability on interpreting data and
mathematical insight made him to finish this great work in 1942. He was served
as prime minister of Jammu
and Kashmir State for a short period after his
retirement in 1944.
His writings on
Indian law include a noted study on constitutional precedents as well as
articles on human rights in India. He served briefly (1944–45) as Prime Minister of Jammu and
Kashmir state. From February 1952 until his death,
he was a judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice, The Hague. Before his election to the court, he was regarded as a
candidate for secretary-general
of the United Nations.
He was represented India in United Nations being a
Permanent Representative from 1949 to 1952. He was the President of the United
Nations Security Council in 1950. He was also a Member of the Korean War Cease-fire
commission (United Nations
Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC)) in 1950. He was
also in the race of becoming UN Secretary General. But he was
appointed as a Judge of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He was helped in drafting the Constitutions
of Burma in 1947 and India in 1950.
After this vast service he died on 30 November 1953 at
Zurich, Switzerland.
Role in Drafting the
Constitution of India
B. N. Rau was appointed on 11 December 1946 as the Constitutional
Adviser to the Constituent Assembly, by Viscount Wavell, the then Viceroy, in formulating the Indian Constitution. He was
responsible for the general structure of its democratic framework of the
Constitution and prepared its original draft.
The Constituent
Assembly's resolution setting up the Drafting Committee, under the chairmanship
of B. R. Ambedkar, declared that it was
being set up to "Scrutinise the Draft of the text of the Constitution
prepared by the Constitutional Adviser giving effect to the decisions taken
already in the Assembly and including all matters ancillary thereto or which
have to be provided in such a Constitution, and to submit to the Assembly for
consideration the text of the Draft Constitution as revised by the Committee."
There already was a Draft in existence when this Committee was set up.
The President
of the Constituent Assembly Rajendra
Prasad, before signing the Constitution on 26
November 1949, thanked Rau for having "worked honorarily all the time that
he was here, assisting the assembly not only with his knowledge and erudition
but also enabled the other members to perform their duties with thoroughness
and intelligence by supplying them with the material on which they could
work." Rau was not a member
of the Assembly but was perhaps as important in the framing of the
Constitution.
The
Indian Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Y. D. Gundevia, who left Berne for Zurich
on the 30th said, "The death of Benegal Narsing Rau is a very great loss.
Every Indian has the benefit of the Constitution which Mr. Rau laboured hard to
formulate for us. It is perhaps less known that he also had a substantial hand
in the drafting of the Constitution of our neighbouring country, Burma. We have
lost in one of our wisest counsellors."
Dr. B R
Ambedkar at his concluding speech in the Constituent Assembly on
penultimate date 25th November,1949
said, ‘The Draft Constitution as
prepared by the Constitutional Adviser as a text for the Drafting Committee to
work upon, consisted of 243Articles and 13 Schedules.’ The Drafting
Committee worked over it to expand it to 315 Articles. After the 2473
amendments, the final form of the constitution emerged with 395 Articles.
Dr. Ambedkar further appreciates the work of B.N. Rau in the
same speech:
“The credit that is given to me does not really belong to me.
It belongs partly to Sir B. N. Rau, the Constitutional Adviser to the
Constituent Assembly who prepared a rough draft of the Constitution for the
consideration of the Drafting Committee.”
The President of the Constituent Assembly,
Dr. Rajendra Prasad himself admired B.N. Rau on the day of signing Constitution
and said ‘…This was done by Mr. B.N. Rau, who brought to bear on his task a
detailed knowledge of Constitutions of other countries and an extensive
knowledge of the conditions of this country as well as his own administrative
experience. The Assembly then appointed the Drafting Committee which worked on
the original draft prepared by Mr. B. N. Rau…’
The interesting aspect about Rau is that
he offered his services free of cost. After retirement
he was not looking for any assignment. He was to tell the Viceroy that he would
assume the new responsibilities thrust upon him in a strictly honorary
capacity. The President of the
Constituent Assembly Dr Rajendra Prasad, before signing the Constitution on
November 26, 1949, thanked Rau for having “worked honorarily, assisting the
Assembly not only with his knowledge and erudition but also enabled the other
members to perform their duties with thoroughness and intelligence by supplying
them with the material on which they could work”
Jawaharlal Nehru termed Rau as “a rare
gem”.
Government of India has recognised BN Rau’s contribution to the making
of the Constitution and issued a stamp in February 1987 (which happened to be
his birth centenary), the then President of India, R Venkataraman, who presided
over the release ceremony was to say "BN Rau was a mental phenomenon. If
ever nature produced a perfect man, it was Benegal Narsing Rau... It is as the
architect of the Indian Constitution that BN will ever be remembered by the
country…”
We all must remember who toiled hard in
formulating the Constitution “of the people, by the people and for the people”
which is one of the best Constitutions in the world. We are enjoying the benefits of
the Constitution. So it is our duty to follow the Constitutional principles and
execute the laws and regulations intra-vires the Constitution as per the ‘will’
of the people with majority. Tinkering and toxifying of the constitution
through repeated amendments will diminish values or basic structure of the
supreme living document. Observance of the Constitution in its morality itself
a great respect what we show to the original architect Sir B N Rau and other founding fathers of the
Constitution.
References:
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_N_Rau
6. Vol.11, Constituent Assembly
Debates, Lok Sabha Secretariat)http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/constituent/vol11p11.html
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