Indian Independence Act 1947

Topic: Making of the Constitution: Constituent Assembly, Sources and Salient Features · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Indian Independence Act 1947 was a law passed by the British Parliament. It ended British rule in India from 15 August 1947 and created two separate dominions (self-governing countries that still kept the British monarch as formal head), India and Pakistan [1]. It also made each Constituent Assembly fully sovereign, meaning free to write any constitution and to repeal any British law. Until a new constitution came in, each Assembly also worked as the dominion's ordinary law-maker [1][6].

It matters because it gave India's Constitution its legal footing. After this Act, the Constitution was made by an Indian body with full power, not by a body working inside limits that Britain had set.

Explanation

Origin and timeline

• Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947). This plan proposed dividing British India. It led directly to the Independence Act.
• Royal assent (the British monarch's formal approval): 18 July 1947.
• Took effect: 15 August 1947. Section 1 of the Act calls this date the "appointed day" [1].
• After Partition, the Assembly met again as the Constituent Assembly for divided India on 14 August 1947.

What the Act did, section by section

• Two dominions (S.1). British rule ended. India and Pakistan became two separate dominions. Each was free to leave the Commonwealth [1].
• Governor-General (S.5). Each dominion got a Governor-General, appointed by the King to represent the Crown [1].
• At first, one person could serve both dominions.

• He was a constitutional head: he acted on the advice of the dominion's cabinet and did not rule on his own.

• Full law-making power (S.6). Dominion legislatures could pass any law, even one that clashed with British law [1].

• They could repeal or amend any British Act, including the Independence Act itself [1].

• End of paramountcy (S.7). Paramountcy was Britain's overlordship over the princely states [1].

• It lapsed, so all British treaties with those states ended.

• "Emperor of India" was removed from the King's titles.

• Secretary of State abolished (S.7). The British minister who had controlled Indian affairs from London lost his office. The UK government gave up responsibility for India [1].

• Interim constitution (S.8). The Government of India Act 1935, as adapted, governed each dominion until its own constitution came into force [1].
• Sovereign Assembly (S.8). Each Constituent Assembly became fully sovereign [1].

How Section 8 gave the Assembly two roles

• Before 1947, the Assembly worked inside the Cabinet Mission scheme (1946), and that scheme limited what it could do.
• Section 8(1): the powers of the Dominion legislature went, "in the first instance", to the Constituent Assembly so that it could make the constitution [1][6].
• Section 8(2): it also got the powers of the old central legislature under the 1935 Act. So it became India's ordinary law-maker too [6].

• In ordinary law-making, it had to follow the adapted 1935 Act and the rules and standing orders of the old Indian Legislative Assembly [6].

• On 14–15 August 1947, the old Central Legislature ceased to exist, and the Constituent Assembly took its place [6].

Limits and how the two roles were kept apart

• Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly: chaired by G.V. Mavalankar. It was appointed on 20 August 1947 and reported on 25 August 1947 [2][7].
• It said the two kinds of work should be kept apart, using different days or separate sittings on the same day [2].
• It said a minister should not preside over the Assembly when it sat as the legislature [2].

• It pointed out that the adapted 1935 Act had no provision for electing a Speaker [2].

• Result: the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) began work on 17 November 1947. Mavalankar was elected to preside over it the same day [5][6].

• Rajendra Prasad presided over the Assembly when it sat as a constituent body.

In the Constitution and practice

• Legal basis: a 1947 Act of the British Parliament. Its key parts were Sections 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 [1].
• Dominion phase (15 August 1947 – 26 January 1950): India governed itself inside the Commonwealth, with the British monarch as formal head.
• Lord Mountbatten was Governor-General from 15 August 1947 to June 1948.

• C. Rajagopalachari followed him in June 1948 and served until 26 January 1950. He was the first and only Indian Governor-General.

• Key acts of the Assembly in this period:

• 22 July 1947: adopted the national flag. This was before the Act took effect.
• May 1949: ratified India's Commonwealth membership.

• 24 January 1950 (last session): adopted the national anthem and the national song, and elected Rajendra Prasad as the first President.

• End of the Act's role: on 26 January 1950, the Constitution came into force and India became a republic.

• The Crown's role ended.

• An elected President replaced the Governor-General.

• Link to the Provisional Parliament: under original Article 379, the Constituent Assembly became the provisional Parliament (a temporary, single-house Parliament), with all the powers the Constitution gives to Parliament [3].

• It served until the first Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were formed in 1952 [6].
• This single house passed the First Amendment (1951).
• Articles 379 and 380 were later omitted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956 [3][4].

Don't confuse with

• Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947): a political plan to divide British India. The Independence Act was the law passed by the British Parliament that put the plan into effect.
• Government of India Act 1935: this was not repealed on 15 August 1947. In adapted form, it worked as India's interim constitution until 26 January 1950, under Section 8 of the Independence Act [1].
• Cabinet Mission (1946): this scheme created the Assembly and limited its powers. The Independence Act removed those limits and made the Assembly sovereign.
• Dominion vs republic: a dominion (1947–50) keeps the British monarch as formal head and has a Governor-General. A republic (from 26 January 1950) has an elected President as head of state.

Prelims Hooks

• Dates: royal assent on 18 July 1947. The Act took effect on 15 August 1947, the "appointed day" under Section 1 [1].
• Section–provision matches: S.5 → Governor-General as constitutional head. S.6 → dominion legislature could repeal British laws, even the Independence Act itself. S.7 → paramountcy lapsed and the Secretary of State's office ended. S.8 → adapted 1935 Act as interim constitution, plus a sovereign Constituent Assembly [1].
• Trap (who presided): Rajendra Prasad presided over the constituent body. G.V. Mavalankar presided over the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) from 17 November 1947 [5][6].
• Trap (committee chair): the Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly (1947) was chaired by G.V. Mavalankar, not Rajendra Prasad [2][7].
• Governors-General: Mountbatten was the first Governor-General of independent India. C. Rajagopalachari (from June 1948) was the first and only Indian Governor-General.
• Trap: India stayed a dominion until 26 January 1950. The interim law in that period was the adapted 1935 Act, not the new Constitution.

Mains Points

• The Act gave India's Constitution a legally sovereign author.
• Before 1947, critics could say the Assembly was a British creation, limited by the Cabinet Mission (1946).
• Section 6 even allowed India to repeal the Independence Act itself [1].

• So the Constitution's authority rests on an Indian body, not on a British grant. This supports the Preamble's claim, "We, the people of India".

• The dual role saved time but blurred a line.

• Under Section 8, the same members wrote the Constitution and passed ordinary laws during the Partition crisis [6].
• The Mavalankar Committee (1947) kept the two kinds of sittings apart and said a minister should not preside over the legislature [2]. That set an early norm of an independent presiding officer.

• The same mixing carried on into the provisional Parliament, which passed the First Amendment (1951). This later fed the debate on how far Parliament can amend the Constitution.

• A gradual, legal transfer of power (GS-I).

• India kept the adapted 1935 Act and stayed a dominion until 1950. It then became a republic while staying in the Commonwealth.
• This mix of continuity and clean break can be compared with Pakistan, which stayed a dominion until 1956.

Related concepts

• Dominion status
• Provisional Parliament

Read more

• Independence, sovereignty and the Assembly's dual role