Abolition of Princely Privileges

After India got independence, the rulers of the princely states, on merging with the State of India (thus losing the right to rule), were granted a ‘privy purse’ by the Government of India. This ‘purse’ was a certain amount of money, payable annually to the rulers (and their successors) of such states in proportion to their revenue, ranking as a salute state under the British Raj, the antiquity of the dynasty, etc. Article 291 of the Constitution of India, the privy purse would be a fixed, tax-free amount guaranteed to the former princely rulers and their successors. The quantum of these ‘purses’ ranged from Rs 5,000 per annum to Rs 26 lakh per annum.

The privileges enjoyed by erstwhile rulers were often questioned and considered by many to be a relic of the past. The 1969 attempt by the Indira Gandhi government to abolish the ‘privy purse’ system and the official recognition of the titles did not meet with success: the Constitutional Amendment Bill to this effect was passed in the Lok Sabha, but it failed to get the required two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha. It was only in 1971 that with the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of India that the privy purses were abolished.

As per the objectives and reason stated in the amendment bill, “The concept of rulership, with privy purses and special privileges unrelated to any current functions and social purposes was incompatible with an egalitarian social order. The Government, therefore, decided to terminate the privy purses and privileges of the rulers of former Indian States. It was necessary for this purpose, apart from amending the relevant provisions of the Constitution, to insert a new article therein so as to terminate expressly the recognition already granted to such rulers and to abolish privy purses and extinguish all rights, liabilities and obligations in respect of privy purses.” Thus Article 363-A was inserted in the Constitution. Besides, the abolition of the privy purses would reduce the government’s revenue deficit.