On February 20, 1947, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced that British rule in India would end by June 30, 1948, and power would be transferred to Indian hands. This prompted the Muslim League to demand partition.
On June 3, 1947, the British government declared that any Constitution framed by the Indian Constituent Assembly (formed in 1946) would not apply to parts of the country unwilling to accept it.
On the same day, Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy of India, presented the Mountbatten Plan proposing the partition of India into two dominions, India and Pakistan.
The Indian Independence Act of 1947 was enacted to implement the plan, formalizing the partition and the independence of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947.
Key Features:
- End of British Rule: India became an independent and sovereign state on August 15, 1947.
- Partition: India was partitioned into two independent dominions, India and Pakistan, with the option to secede from the British Commonwealth.
- Abolition of Viceroy: The office of the Viceroy was abolished, and each dominion was to have its own Governor-General appointed by the British King on the advice of the dominion cabinet.
- Constituent Assemblies: The Constituent Assemblies of the two dominions were given the power to frame and adopt their own constitutions and repeal any act of the British Parliament, including the Independence Act.
- Governance: The Government of India Act of 1935 was to govern the dominions and provinces until new constitutions were drafted.
- Lapse of Paramountcy: British paramountcy over the Indian princely states and tribal areas lapsed on August 15, 1947.
- Freedom for Princely States: The Indian princely states were free to join either dominion or remain independent.
- No Veto Power: The British Monarch was deprived of the right to veto bills, which instead was reserved for the Governor-General.
- Civil Services: The appointment to civil services and reservation of posts by the Secretary of State for India were discontinued. Existing members of the civil services were allowed to continue under existing terms.
- Royal Titles: The title of Emperor of India was dropped from the royal titles of the King of England.
At midnight on August 14-15, 1947, British rule ended and power was transferred to the two new dominions of India and Pakistan. Lord Mountbatten became the first Governor-General of independent India, and Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as the first Prime Minister. The Constituent Assembly of India formed in 1946 became the Parliament of the Indian Dominion.
