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Provided that where any such Order is made with respect to any area included within a Governor's Province, the Governor-General shall, before making such Order, ascertain the views of the Government of that Province both with respect to the proposal to make the Order and with respect to the provisions to be inserted therein,

(2) An Order made under sub-section (1) of this section may contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions (including provisions for varying the representation in the Legislature) as the Governor-General may deem necessary."

Orders under Section 290A of the Government of India Act

168. An order under S. 290A, known as the States' Merger (Governor's Provinces) Order, 1949, issued on July 27, 1949, (Appendix XLIV) was applied to the Provincially-merged States with effect from August 1, 1949. Under the provisions of this Order,

(i) the Provincially-merged States were to be administered, in all respects, as if they formed part of the absorbing Provinces, and

(ii) all laws including the orders made under the Extra-Provincial Jurisdiction Act, 1947, which were in operation in these States at the time of the enforcement of this Order, were to continue in force until repealed or modified but no fresh orders could be made under the aforementioned Act.

The Order also provided for

(a) the representation of the merged States in the Legislatures of the absorbing Provinces;

(b) the apportionment of assets and liabilities as between the Centre and the Provinces, and

(c) the institution of suits and other proceedings against the Government and the continuance of pending proceedings.

Amending Orders under this section were issued in respect of U.P. States and Cooch-Behar on 29th November, 1949, and 31st December, 1949, respectively. (Appendices XLV and XLVI).

169. Under this Order, the States merged in a Province have been given representation in the Provincial Legislature in the same proportion to their population as the existing strength of the Provincial Legislature bears to the population of the Province proper excluding the States. As the preparation of the electoral rolls on the basis of the existing provincial franchise and