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20. It seems to us that from this scheme of distribution it cannot be legitimately inferred that taxes on the capital value of agricultural land were designedly excluded from entry 97 List I. In this connection it is well to remember that the first draft of the 3 lists was attached to the report of the Union Powers Committee dated July 5, 1947 (see vol. V, Constituent Assembly Debates, page 60). List I then consisted of 87 entries and there was no residuary entry. It was on August 20, 1947, that! Mr. N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar moved that this report be taken into consideration. At that stage it was evident that in the case of Indian States the residuary subjects were to stay with the Indian States unless they were willing to cede them to the center. He said :

28. Basing himself on this extract he said that the tax on "net wealth" was well-known and if it had been the desire to include it, it would have been mentioned.

29. We do not think it is a legitimate manner of interpretation. The debates show that notwithstanding that certain taxes were known to the members of the Constituent Assembly they were not mentioned in the final list. Yet it can hardly be argued that they would not fall within the residuary powers.

30. In the report of the Expert Committee on Financial Provisions, dated December 5, 1947, (Constituent Assembly Debates, Volume 7, page 53), it is stated that one of the terms of reference was:

That in entry 91 of List I, the word 'other' be deleted.

37. Extracts from the debates on the proposed amendment are reproduced below :

Sardar Hukam Singh (Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. 9 page 854):...
"The object of this entry 91 is, whatever is not included in Lists II and III must be deemed to have been included in this List. I feel that it could be said in very simple words, if the word 'other' were omitted, and then there would be no need for this list absolutely. Ultimately, it comes to this that whatever is not covered by Lists II and III is all embraced in the Union List. This could be said in very simple words and we need not have taken all this trouble" which we have taken."

138. Mr. Setalvad, however, relied on a speech by Shri Krishnamachari during the debate on the center's residuary power. On a careful reading of it in the context of what others said on that occasion, it is clear that it was made to allay the apprehensions expressed by some of the members against Article 248 and entry 97 of List I. The propositions, he sought to make, were (a) that one of the best points of the 1935 Constitution Act, according to Prof. Wheare, was the enumeration of powers in the Seventh Schedule; (b) that that having been done, a provision for residuary power became necessary, and (c) that the Lists being almost "complete and exhaustive" there was not much left in the content of the residuary power. He, however, added that one possible use to which the provision for residuary power can be put in future would be to impose a capital levy on agricultural land, but that if that were done, he thought that the center would assign its proceeds to the States as all matters supposed to be associated with agriculture were allotted to the States. "I mink", he observed, "the vesting of the residuary power is only a matter of academic significance to-day". It is undoubtedly true that he expressed his individual opinion as to the possible exercise in future of the residuary power under Article 248 and entry 97 in List I for imposing a capital levy on agricultural land. But he did not refer to the other entries in the Lists such as entry 86 in List I or entry 49 in List II, and their impact or significance on the extent of the residuary power. Nor does the debate show that any other member took up or agreed with his suggestion. It is, therefore, not possible to spell out, as Mr. Setalvad tried to do, any consensus of opinion in the Assembly or an awareness on the part of its members of the residuary power being enable of being used in future for a tax such as the one impugned here Constituent Assembly Debates, Vol. 2, 838-839; 952-954.