HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Indian Independence Act 1947
947 CHAPTER 30 10 and 11 Geo 6 Year 947 ( CMXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – A Hungarian army led by Grand Prince Taksony campaigns in Italy, heading ...
is an Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
that partitioned
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
into the two new independent
dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
s of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
and
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 July 1947 and thus modern-day India and Pakistan, comprising west (modern day
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
) and east (modern day
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
) regions, came into being on 15 August. The legislature representatives of the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
, the Muslim League, and the Sikh community came to an agreement with Lord Mountbatten on what has come to be known as the ''3 June Plan'' or ''Mountbatten Plan''. This plan was the last plan for independence.


Prelude


Attlee's announcement

Clement Attlee, the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
, announced on 20 February 1947 that: #The British Government would grant full self-government to British India by 30 June 1948 at the latest, #The future of the Princely States would be decided after the date of final transfer is decided.


3rd June Plan

The 3rd June 1947 Plan was also known as the Mountbatten Plan. The British government proposed a plan, announced on 3 June 1947, that included these principles: #Principle of the partition of British India was accepted by the British Government #Successor governments would be given
dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
status #Autonomy and sovereignty to both countries #Can make their own constitution #Princely States were given the right to join either Pakistan or India, based on two major factors: Geographical contiguity and the people's wishes.


Provisions

The Act's most important provisions were: * Division of British India into the two new dominions – the
Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...
and the
Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...
– with effect from 15 August 1947; * Partition of the provinces of
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
between the two new countries; * Establishment of the office of Governor-General in each of the two new countries, as representatives of
the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
; * Conferral of complete legislative authority upon the respective
Constituent Assemblies Constituent or constituency may refer to: Politics * An individual voter within an electoral district, state, community, or organization * Advocacy group or constituency * Constituent assembly * Constituencies of Namibia Other meanings * Consti ...
of the two new countries; * Termination of British
suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...
over the princely states, with effect from 15 August 1947. These states could decide to join either India or Pakistan; and * Abolition of the use of the title "
Emperor of India Emperor or Empress of India was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948, that was used to signify their rule over British India, as its imperial head of state. Royal Proclamation of 2 ...
" by the British monarch (this was subsequently executed by King George VI by royal proclamation on 22 June 1948); The Act also made provision for the division of joint property, etc. between the two new countries, including in particular the division of the armed forces.


Salient features

#Two new dominion states: Two new dominions were to emerge from the Indian empire: India and Pakistan. #Appointed Date: 15 August 1947 was declared as the appointed date for the partition. #Territories: ##Pakistan: East Bengal, West Punjab, Sindh, and Chief Commissioner's Province of Baluchistan. ##The fate of the
North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...
(now
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
) was subject to the result of a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
. ##Bengal & Assam: ###The province of Bengal as constituted under the Government of India Act 1935 ceased to exist. ###In lieu thereof two new provinces were to be constituted, to be known respectively as East Bengal and West Bengal. ###The fate of District Sylhet, in the province of Assam, was to be decided in a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
. ##Punjab: ###The province as constituted under the Government of India Act 1935 ceased to exist. ###Two new provinces were to be constituted, to be known respectively as West Punjab and East Punjab. #The boundaries of the new provinces were to be determined, whether before or after the appointed date, by the award of a boundary commission to be appointed by the Governor-General. #Constitution for the New Dominions: until the time of the making of the new constitution, the new dominions and the provinces thereof were to be governed by the Government of India Act 1935. (Temporary Provisions as to the Government of Each New Dominion). #The Governors-General of the new dominions: ##For each of the new dominions a new Governor-General was to be appointed by the Crown, subject to the law of the legislature of either of the new dominions. ##Same person as Governor-General of both dominions: if unless and until provision to the contrary was made by a law of the legislature of either of the new dominions, the same person could be the Governor-General of both. #Powers of Governor-General: (Section-9) ##The Governor-General was empowered to bring this Act into force. ##Division of territories, powers, duties, rights, assets, liabilities, etc., was the responsibility of Governor General. ##To adopt, amend, Government of India Act 1935, as the Governor-General may consider it necessary. ##power to introduce any change was until 31 March 1948, after that it was open to the constituent assembly to modify or adopt the same Act. (Temporary Provisions as to the Government of Each New Dominion.) ##Governor-General had full powers to give assent to any law. #Legislation for the new dominions: ##The existing legislative setup was allowed to continue as Constitution making body as well as a legislature. (Temporary Provisions as to the Government of Each New Dominion.) ##The legislature of each dominion was given full powers to make laws for that dominion, including laws having extraterritorial operation. ##No Act of Parliament of UK passed after the appointed date would be extended to the territories of new dominions. ##No law and provision of any law made by the legislature of the new dominions shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the law of England. ##The Governor-General of each dominion had full powers to give assent in His Majesty's name to any law of the legislature. onfiguration of Pakistan's Constitution Assembly (CAP I): 69 members of the central legislature + 10 immigrant members= 79 #Consequences of setting up of the new dominions: ##His Majesty's Government lost all the responsibility to the new dominions. ##The suzerainty of His Majesty's Government over the Indian States lapsed. ##All the treaties or agreements with the Indian States and the tribal areas that were in force at the passing of the act lapsed. ##The title of "Emperor of India" was dropped from the titles of British Crown. ##The office of Secretary of State for India was abolished and the provisions of GOI Act 1935 relating to the appointments to the civil service or civil posts under the crown by the secretary of the state ceased to operate. #Civil servants: Section 10 provided for the continuance of service of the government servants appointed on or before 15 August 1947 under the Governments of new Dominions with full benefits. #Armed Forces: Sections 11, 12, and 13 dealt with the future of the Indian armed forces. A Partition Committee was formed on 7 June 1947, with two representatives from each side and the viceroy in the chair, to decide about the division thereof. As soon as the process of partition was to start it was to be replaced by a Partition Council with a similar structure. #First and Second Schedules: ##First Schedule listed the districts provisionally included in the new province of East Bengal: ###Chittagong Division: Districts of Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Noakhali and Tipperah. ###Dacca Division: Districts of Bakarganj, Dacca, Faridpur, and Mymensingh. ###Presidency Division: Districts of Jessore (except Bangaon Tehsil), and Kustia and Meherpur Tehsils (of Nadia district). ###Rajshahi Division:Districts of Bogra, Dinajpur (except Raiganj and Balurghat Tehsil), Rajshahi, Rangpur and Nawabganj Tehsil (of Malda district). ##Second Schedule listed the districts provisionally included in the new province of West Punjab: ###Lahore Division: Districts of Gujranwala, Lahore (except Patti Tehsil), Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Shakargarh Tehsil (of Gurdaspur district). ###Rawalpindi Division: Districts of Attock, Gujrat, Jehlum, Rawalpindi and Shahpur. ###Multan Division: Districts of Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhang, Lyallpur, Montgomery, Multan and Muzaffargarh.


Partition

There was much violence, and many Muslims from what would become India fled to Pakistan; and Hindus and Sikhs from what would become Pakistan fled to India. Many people left behind all their possessions and property to avoid the violence and flee to their new country.


Princely states

On 25 July 1947, Mountbatten held a meeting with the Chamber of Princes, where he addressed the question of the princely states, of which there were about 565. The treaty relations between Britain and the Indian States would come to an end, and on 15 August 1947 the
suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...
of the British Crown was to lapse. Mountbatten ruled out any dominion status for any of the princely states, and advised them to acccede to one or the other of the dominions, India and Pakistan. Though it was technically possible for the states to remain free after 15 August, their dependence on the British government of India for defence and other matters rendered such freedom meaningless.


India

Lord Mountbatten continued as the first Governor General of independent India.
Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...
became the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
and Vallabhbhai Patel became the home minister. Over 550 princely states, almost all of the states contiguous with the territory of India, acceded to India by 15 August. The exceptions were Junagadh,
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...
, and
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was contiguous to both India and Pakistan, but its Hindu ruler chose to remain independent "for the time being". Following a Pakistani tribal invasion, he acceded to India on 26 October 1947, and the state was
disputed Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
between India and Pakistan. The state of Junagadh initially acceded to Pakistan but faced a revolt from its Hindu population. Following a breakdown of law and order, its Dewan requested India to take over the administration on 8 November 1947. India conducted a referendum in the state on 20 February 1948, in which the people voted overwhelmingly to join India. The state of
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...
, with the majority Hindu population but Muslim ruler faced intense turmoil and sectarian violence. India intervened in the state on 13 September 1948, following which the ruler of the state signed the Instrument of Accession, joining India.


Pakistan

Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the Governor-General of Pakistan, and Liaquat Ali Khan became the
Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pak ...
. Between October 1947 and March 1948 the rulers of several Muslim-majority states signed instruments of accession to join Pakistan. These included
Amb AMB may refer to: * Active magnetic bearing * Advanced Memory Buffer, used in Fully Buffered DIMM memory * Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the armed sections of the Palestinian Fatah movement * Ambergate railway station, abbreviation used in th ...
, Bahawalpur,
Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...
, Dir, Kalat, Khairpur, Kharan, Las Bela, Makran, and Swat.


Repeal

The Indian Independence Act was subsequently repealed in Article 395 of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
and in Article 221 of the Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, both constitutions being intended to bring about greater independence for the new states. Although under British law, the new constitutions did not have the legal authority to repeal the Act, the repeal was intended to establish them as independent legal systems based only on home-grown legislation. The Act has not been repealed in the United Kingdom, where it still has an effect, although some sections of it have been repealed.


See also

*
Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...
* Pakistan Movement * Partition of India *
Political integration of India After the Indian independence in 1947, the dominion of India was divided into two sets of territories, one under direct British rule, and the other under the suzerainty of the British Crown, with control over their internal affairs remainin ...


Notes


References


External links


Indian Independence Bill,1947
* *
Image of the Act on the UK Parliamentary website
{{Pakistan Movement 1947 in India 1947 in Pakistan 1947 in law Independence acts in the Parliament of the United Kingdom Partition of India United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1947 1947 in international relations India–United Kingdom relations Pakistan–United Kingdom relations Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning India India and the Commonwealth of Nations Pakistan and the Commonwealth of Nations July 1947 events in Asia July 1947 events in the United Kingdom Constitution of Pakistan