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The British statute that partitioned British India into the two independent dominions of India and Pakistan from 15 August 1947.
The Indian Independence Act, 1947 is the Act of the British Parliament that ended British rule in India by partitioning British India into two independent dominions — India and Pakistan — with effect from 15 August 1947. It gave legislative form to the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June 1947. The Bill was passed by the British Parliament on 5 July 1947 and received royal assent from King George VI on 18 July 1947. The Act abolished the office of the Secretary of State for India, ended the Crown's paramountcy over the princely states, made the Constituent Assembly of each dominion its sovereign legislature, and provided that until each dominion framed its own constitution, it would be governed under the Government of India Act, 1935. The British monarch also ceased to use the title 'Emperor of India'.
Type: LawCreated two independent dominions, India and Pakistan, with effect from 15 August 1947, each free to leave the Commonwealth.
Ended paramountcy — the Crown's suzerainty over the roughly 565 princely states lapsed and was not inherited by either dominion; states were left to accede to India or Pakistan.
Abolished the office of the Secretary of State for India, and with it the machinery of the India Office in London.
Provided a Governor-General for each dominion, appointed on the advice of the dominion's own cabinet and acting as a constitutional head rather than a ruler.
Made the Constituent Assembly of each dominion its sovereign legislature, empowered to frame a constitution and to repeal any British statute, including this Act itself.
Provided that until each dominion framed its constitution, it and its provinces would be governed under the Government of India Act, 1935.
Dropped 'Emperor of India' from the British monarch's titles, ending an imperial style used since 1876.
Frequency: A staple of modern history and polity sections in UPSC Prelims, SSC and State PSC papers; the paramountcy provision is asked especially often.
By 1947, the British government under Clement Attlee had committed to transferring power, and Lord Mountbatten arrived as Viceroy with a mandate to arrange it. When negotiations over a united India failed, Mountbatten announced a plan on 3 June 1947 for partition, with the provinces of Bengal and Punjab to be divided and a referendum in the North-West Frontier Province. The Indian Independence Act translated that plan into law within six weeks — an unusually compressed legislative timetable that reflected the advanced date Mountbatten had chosen for the transfer.
Prime Minister Clement Attlee announces that Britain will transfer power in India by June 1948; Lord Mountbatten is appointed Viceroy.
The Mountbatten Plan, or 3 June Plan, is announced, providing for partition.
The Indian Independence Bill is passed by the British Parliament.
The Bill receives royal assent from King George VI and becomes the Indian Independence Act, 1947.
Power is transferred; India and Pakistan become independent dominions.
The Constitution of India comes into force and India becomes a sovereign democratic republic, ending dominion status.
Indian Independence Act, 1947
The enabling statute — partitions British India, creates two dominions and transfers legislative sovereignty to their Constituent Assemblies.
Government of India Act, 1935
Continued as the working constitution of each dominion, with modifications, until its own constitution was framed — for India, until 26 January 1950.
Doctrine of lapse of paramountcy
The Act provided that the Crown's paramountcy over the princely states would lapse rather than pass to either dominion, which is why accession had to be negotiated state by state through Instruments of Accession.
The Act is the legal hinge between colonial India and the two states that followed it. Three of its choices had lasting consequences. First, it delivered dominion status rather than a republic, which is why India's constitutional journey continued to 26 January 1950. Second, it lapsed paramountcy instead of transferring it, leaving over five hundred princely states legally free to choose — the provision that made the integration of the states a distinct and difficult political project, and that shaped the disputes that followed, most notably in Jammu and Kashmir. Third, by keeping the Government of India Act, 1935 in force in the interim, it ensured administrative continuity, so the new governments inherited a functioning legal machinery rather than a vacuum.
Indian Independence Act, 1947 — gave legal form to the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June 1947.
Passed 5 July 1947; royal assent 18 July 1947; effective 15 August 1947.
Created two independent dominions: India and Pakistan.
Paramountcy over about 565 princely states lapsed and was not inherited by either dominion.
Abolished the office of the Secretary of State for India; the Governor-General became a constitutional head.
Constituent Assemblies became sovereign legislatures of the two dominions.
The Government of India Act, 1935 governed the dominions until their own constitutions were framed.
The British monarch dropped the title 'Emperor of India'.
It was passed by the British Parliament on 5 July 1947 and received royal assent from King George VI on 18 July 1947, taking effect on 15 August 1947.
The Crown's paramountcy over the roughly 565 princely states lapsed and was not inherited by either dominion. Each state was left to accede to India or Pakistan, which is why Instruments of Accession had to be signed individually.
No. India became an independent dominion on 15 August 1947 and became a sovereign democratic republic only on 26 January 1950, when the Constitution came into force.
The Government of India Act, 1935, with modifications, continued as the working constitution of the dominion until the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950.
The Mountbatten Plan, also known as the 3 June Plan of 1947, which provided for the partition of British India.