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Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will be the final tribunal for the States in Part B, not as a matter of courtesy as it were, as was the case under the Act of 1935; its authority and jurisdiction will directly extend to States as well as Provinces. It will truly be the guardian of the Constitution and the coping-stone of the entire judicial structure of India, covering the Provinces and the States alike.

Privy Purse of Rulers

238. The Covenants for the establishments of Unions of States and Agreements of Merger contain provisions guaranteeing to the Rulers of merged and integrated States payment of privy purse as fixed under the terms of these Instruments. These provisions have been guaranteed by the Government of India. In January 1950, the Government of India entered into Agreements with the Rulers of Hyderabad and Mysore under which the Rulers of these States also have been guaranteed payment of privy purse as determined under these Agreements (Appendices LVII & LVIII). Article 291 of the Constitution gives constitutional guarantee to these commitments. The Article contains a mandatory provision that the guaranteed sums^[1] shall be charged on, and paid out of, the Consolidated Fund of India subject to such recoveries as may be made from time to time from the Provinces and States in respect of these payments. Explaining the background of this provision to the Constituent Assembly, the Hon'ble Minister for States stated as follows:—

"I shall first deal with the financial aspect of these arrangements. In the past, in most of the States there was no distinction between the expenditure on the administration and the Ruler's privy purse. Even where the Ruler's privy purse had been fixed no effective steps were taken to ensure that the expenditure expected to be covered by the privy purse was not directly or indirectly charged on the revenues of the State. Large amounts, therefore, were spent on the Rulers and on the members of the ruling families. This expenditure has been estimated to exceed twenty crores of rupees per year.

All the Agreements of Merger and Covenants now provide for the fixation of the Ruler's privy purse which is intended to cover all the expenses of the Ruler and their families including the expenses of their residences, marriages and other ceremonies, etc. The privy purse guaranteed under these Agreements is

1. A statement showing the amounts of privy purse guaranteed to the Rulers is appended (Appendix LIX).