User:Abecedare/Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of India

The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of India abolished the privy purses and privileges of the rulers of former princely states of India. It also ceased recognition of the erstwhile rulers and their successors. The amendment was adopted on 28th December, 1971.

Legislative history

The retention by the erstwhile princes of their titles, privileges and palaces, and the payment they received from the government were thought to be incompatible with the goals of an egalitarian society, especially in a nation in which so many people remained poor. Therefore, in 1967, efforts began to end the provision of privy purses and privileges through talks between the then Home Minister Y. B. Chavan and the princes, represented by the Maharaja of Dhrangadhra. These negotiations continued, off and on, till 1969 but with little progress. Finally, on May 18, 1970, Chavan introduced the Constitution (Twenty Fourth Amendment) Bill (1970) to abolish the privy purses and privileges of the erstwhile Rulers of Princely States. After a two day debate, the bill passed the Lok Sabha on September 2, 1970 on a 336 to 155 vote, meeting the two-third margin requirement specified in Article 368 of the Indian Constitution for constitutional amendments. However the bill failed to meet that margin in the Rajya Sabha by a single vote. Nevertheless the government derecognised the princes through a presidential order. The princes appealed to the Indian Supreme Court, which ruled in their favour on December 11, 1970 and declared the presidential order to be arbitrary and unconstitutional.

Partially in response to this and other judgments by the Supreme court, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called for early Lok Sabha elections in 1971, in which she led her party to a landslide victory. Strengthened by the election results Gandhi refused a compromise with the princes that would have them retain their royal titles, and again introduced a bill to abolish the princely privileges on August 9, 1971. This time, the bill easily passed the Lok Sabha on December 2, 1971 on a 381 to 6 vote count, and the Rajya Sabha on December 9 with 167 votes for, and seven against. The Constitution (Twenty Sixth Amendment) Act, 1971 was adopted on December 28th after Presidential assent.

See also

• Amendment of the Constitution of India
• Princely state

References

• Ramusack, Barbara N. (2004). The Indian princes and their states. Cambridge University Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-521-26727-4. Retrieved 6 November 2011., "Through a constitutional amendment passed in 1971, Indira Gandhi stripped the princes of the titles, privy purses and regal privileges which her father's government had granted." (p 278).

• Naipaul, V. S. (8 April 2003), India: A Wounded Civilization, Random House Digital, Inc., pp. 37–, ISBN 978-1-4000-3075-0, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "The princes of India – their number and variety reflecting to a large extent the chaos that had come to the country with the break up of the Mughal empire – had lost real power in the British time. Through generations of idle servitude they had grown to specialize only in style. A bogus, extinguishable glamour: in 1947, with Independence, they had lost their state, and Mrs. Gandhi in 1971 had, without much public outcry, abolished their privy purses and titles." (pp 37–38).

• Schmidt, Karl J. (1995), An atlas and survey of South Asian history, M.E. Sharpe, p. 78, ISBN 978-1-56324-334-9, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "Although the Indian states were alternately requested or forced into union with either India or Pakistan, the real death of princely India came when the Twenty-sixth Amendment Act (1971) abolished the princes' titles, privileges, and privy purses." (page 78).

• Breckenridge, Carol Appadurai (1995), Consuming modernity: public culture in a South Asian world, U of Minnesota Press, pp. 84–, ISBN 978-0-8166-2306-8, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "The third stage in the political evolution of the princes from rulers to citizens occurred in 1971, when the constitution ceased to recognize them as princes and their privy purses, titles, and special privileges were abolished." (page 84).

• Guha, Ramachandra (5 August 2008), India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, HarperCollins, pp. 441–, ISBN 978-0-06-095858-9, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "Her success at the polls emboldened Mrs. Gandhi to act decisively against the princes. Through 1971, the two sides tried and failed to find a settlement. The princes were willing to forgo their privy purses, but hoped at least to save their titles. But with her overwhelming majority in Parliament, the prime minister had no need to compromise. On 2 December she introduced a bill to amend the constitution and abolish all princely privileges. It was passed in the Lok Sabha by 381 votes to six, and in the Rajya Sabha by 167 votes to seven. In her own speech, the prime minister invited 'the princes to join the elite of the modern age, the elite which earns respect by its talent, energy and contribution to human progress, all of which can only be done when we work together as equals without regarding anybody as of special status.' " (page 441).

• Cheesman, David (1997). Landlord power and rural indebtedness in colonial Sind, 1865-1901. London: Routledge. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-0-7007-0470-5. Retrieved 6 November 2011. Quote: "The Indian princes survived the British Raj by only a few years. The Indian republic stripped them of their powers and then their titles." (page 10).

• Merriam-Webster, Inc (1997), Merriam-Webster's geographical dictionary, Merriam-Webster, pp. 520–, ISBN 978-0-87779-546-9, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "Indian States: "Various (formerly) semi-independent areas in India ruled by native princes .... Under British rule ... administered by residents assisted by political agents. Titles and remaining privileges of princes abolished by Indian government 1971." (page 520).

• Ward, Philip (September 1989), Northern India, Rajasthan, Agra, Delhi: a travel guide, Pelican Publishing, pp. 91–, ISBN 978-0-88289-753-0, retrieved 6 November 2011 Quote: "A monarchy is only as good as the reigning monarch: thus it is with the princely states. Once they seemed immutable, invincible. In 1971 they were "derecognized," their privileges, privy purses and titles all abolished at a stroke" (page 91)