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The features of this Act were as foIIows:

1. It ended the British rule in India and declared India as an independent and sovereign state from August 15, 1947.

2. It provided for the partition of India and creation of two independent dominions of India and Pakistan with the right to secede from the British Commonwealth.

3. It abolished the office of Viceroy and provided, for each dominion, a governorgeneral, who was to be appointed by the British King on the advice of the dominion cabinet. His Majesty’s Government in Britain was to have no responsibility with respect to the Government of India or Pakistan.

4. It empowered the Constituent Assemblies of the two dominions to frame and adopt any constitution for their respective nations and to repeal any act of the British Parliament, including the Independence act itself.

5. It empowered the Constituent Assemblies of both the dominions to legislate for their respective territories till the

new constitutions were drafted and enforced. No Act of the British Parliament passed after August 15, 1947 was to extend to either of the new dominions unless it was extended thereto by a law of the legislature of the dominion.

6. It abolished the office of the Secretary of State for India and transferred his functions to the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs.

7. It proclaimed the lapse of British paramountcy over the Indian princely states and treaty relations with tribal areas from August 15, 1947.

8. It granted freedom to the Indian princely states either to join the Dominion of India or Dominion of Pakistan or to remain independent.

9. It provided for the governance of each of the dominions and the provinces by the Government of India Act of 1935, till the new Constitutions were framed. The dominions were however authorised to make modifications in the Act.

10. It deprived the British Monarch of his right to veto bills or ask for reservation of certain bills for his approval. But, this right was reserved for the GovernorGeneral. The Governor- General would have full power to assent to any bill in the name of His Majesty.

11. It designated the Governor-General of India and the provincial governors as constitutional (nominal) heads of the states. They were made to act on the advice of the respective council of ministers in all matters.

12. It dropped the title of Emperor of India from the royal titles of the King of England.

13. It discontinued the appointment to civil services and reservation of posts by the secretary of state for India. The members of the civil services appointed before August 15, 1947 would continue to enjoy all benefits that they were entitled to till that time.

At the stroke of midnight of 14-15 August, 1947, the British rule came to an end and power was transferred to the two new independent Dominions of India and Pakistan10. Lord Mountbatten became the first GovernorGeneral of the new Dominion of India. He swore in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of

independent India. The Constituent Assembly of India formed in 1946 became the Parliament of the Indian Dominion.


Table 1.1 Interim Government (1946)


Sl. Members No.

Portfolios Held

1. Jawaharlal Nehru

Vice-President of the Council; External Affairs & Commonwealth Relations

2. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Home, Information & Broadcasting

3. Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Food & Agriculture

4. Dr. John Mathai

Industries & Supplies

5. Jagjivan Ram

Labour

6. Sardar Baldev Singh

Defence

7. C.H. Bhabha

Works, Mines & Power

8. Liaquat Ali Khan

Finance

9. Abdur Rab Nishtar

Posts & Air

10. Asaf Ali

Railways & Transport

11. C. Rajagopalachari

Education & Arts

12. I.I. Chundrigar

Commerce

13. Ghaznafar Ali Khan

Health

14. Joginder Nath Mandal

Law

Note: The members of the interim Government were members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council. The Viceroy continued to be the head of the Council. But, Jawaharlal Nehru was designated as the Vice-President of the Council.


Table 1.2 First Cabinet of Free India (1947)

Sl. Members Portfolios Held

No.

1. Jawaharlal Nehru

Prime Minister; External Affairs & Commonwealth Relations; Scientific Research

2. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Home, Information & Broadcasting; States

3. Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Food & Agriculture

4. Maulana Abul Kalam Education Azad

5. Dr. John Mathai

Railways & Transport

6. R.K. Shanmugham Chetty

Finance

7. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Law

8. Jagjivan Ram

Labour

9. Sardar Baldev Singh

Defence

10. Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur

Health

11. C.H. Bhabha

Commerce

12. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai

Communication

13. Dr. Shayama Prasad Industries & Supplies Mukherji

14. V.N. Gadgil

Works, Mines & Power


NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. The Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam, granted 'Diwani’ to the Company after its victory in the Battle of Buxar (1764).

2. It was introduced in the British Parliament by the then Prime Minister, William Pitt.

3. At that time, the Civil Services of the company were classified into covenanted civil services (higher civil services) and uncovenanted civil services (lower civil

services). The former was created by a law of the Company, while the later was created otherwise.

4. Subhash C. Kashyap, Our Constitution, National Book Trust, Third Edition, 2001, P. 14.

5. The system of Budget was introduced in British India in 1860.

6. V. N. Shukla, The Constitution of India, Eastern Book Company, Tenth Edition, 2001, P. A-10.

7. The declaration thus stated: 'The policy of His Majesty’s Government is that of the increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration, and the gradual development of self-government institutions, with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire’.

8. This was done on the recommendation of the Lee Commission on Superior Civil Services in India (1923- 24).

9. The Indian Independence Bill was introduced in the British Parliament on July 4, 1947 and received the Royal Assent on July 18, 1947. The act came into force on August 15, 1947.

10. The boundaries between the two Dominions were determined by a Boundary Commission headed by Radcliff. Pakistan included the provinces of West Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan, East Bengal, North-Western Frontier Province and the district of sylhet in Assam. The referendum in the North-Western Frontier Province and Sylhet was in favour of Pakistan.