White Paper on Indian States (1950)/Part 12/Declaration of Lapse of Paramountcy; a Consequence of the Theory of Personal Contract
Declaration of Lapse of Paramountcy: A Consequence of the Theory of Personal Contract
261. The decision regarding the lapse of paramountcy was a direct consequence of the theory of personal contract and of the 'non-transferability' of treaty rights without the consent of the Rulers. The doctrine of lapse of paramountcy over Indian States was developed by British legal acumen for conserving the "comradeship in danger and difficulty" between the Imperial power and the Rulers in a context when complete withdrawal of British Power had not been envisaged as a real possibility. However, even after an irrevocable decision had been taken by the British to withdraw from India, the theory that history could be reversed and that with the withdrawal of the British, Indian States comprising two-fifths of the land must return to a state of unorganised political isolation, was persevered in with a determination bordering on recklessness.