Page:White Paper on Indian States (1950).pdf/73



156. The Instruments of Merger and the Covenants establishing the various Unions of States, are in the nature of over-all settlements with the Rulers who have executed them. While they provide for the integration of States and for the transfer of power from the Rulers, they also guarantee to the Rulers privy purse, succession to gaddi, rights and privileges and full ownership, use and enjoyment of all private properties belonging to them, as distinct from State properties. The position about the privy purses guaranteed or assured to the Rulers is set out in details in Part XI. The provisions of the Constitution bearing on the rights, privileges and dignities of Rulers and their succession to their respective gaddis are also explained in that Part. So far as their Private properties are concerned, the Rulers were required to furnish by a specified date inventories of immovable property, securities and cash balances claimed by them as private property. The settlement of any dispute arising in respect of the properties claimed by a Ruler was to be by reference to an arbitrator appointed by the Government of India.

157. In the past the Rulers made no distinction between private and State property; they could freely use for personal purposes any property owned by their respective States. With the integration of States it became necessary to define and demarcate clearly the private property of the Ruler. The settlement was a difficult and delicate task calling for detailed and patient examination of each case. As conditions and customs differed from State to State, there were no precedents to guide and no clear principles to follow. Each case, therefore, had to be decided on its merits. The Government of India were anxious that the new order in States should be ushered in in an atmosphere free from any controversies or bitterness arising from any unhappy legacy of the past. A rigid and legalistic approach would have detracted from the spirit of good-will and accommodation in which the political complexion of the States had been so radically altered. By and large the inventories were settled by discussion between the representatives of the Ministry of States, the Rulers concerned and the representatives of the Governments of the Province or the Union as the case may be. The procedure generally adopted was that after the inventories had been received and scrutinised by the Provincial or the Union Government concerned and after the accounts