FEDERATION VERSUS FREEDOM 287
note of two things. First, the Indian Federation comprises two distinct areas : British India and Indian States. This will be clear if you refer to section 5. Second, the relationship of these two areas with the Crown is not the same. The area known as British India is vested in the Crown while the area comprised in an Indian State is not vested in the Crown but is vested in the Ruler. This is clear if you refer to sections 2 and 311. The territory of British India being vested in the Crown the sovereignty over it belongs to the Crown and the territory of an Indian State being vested in the Ruler of the State the sovereignty over the State belongs to the Ruler of the State.
You will now understand why I said that in the Indian Federation the Crown is the ultimate source for a part of its authority and for the remaining part the Crown is the ultimate source of authority of the Indian Federation in so far as British India is part of the Federation. The Indian Ruler is the ultimate source of authority in so far as his State is part of this Federation. When therefore section 7 says that the Executive Authority of the Federation shall be exercised by the Governor-General on behalf of the Crown it must be understood that Crown’s authority which is delegated by him to the Governor-General in the working out of the Indian Federation is partly its own and partly derived from the Rulers of the Indian States.
What is the process by which the Crown acquires the authority which belongs to the Ruler of an Indian State ? The process is known under the Indian Act as Accession. This Accession is effected by what is called an Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler of a State. The provisions relating to the Instrument of Accession are contained in section 6(1). That section reads as follows : “6. A State shall be deemed to have acceded to the Federation if His Majesty has signified his acceptance of an Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler for himself, his heirs and successors—
( a ) declares that he accedes to the Federation as established under this Act, with the intent that His Majesty the King, the Governor-General of India, the Federal Legislature, the Federal Court and any other Federal Authority established for the purposes of the Federation shall by virtue of his Instrument of Accession, but subject always to the terms thereof, and for the purposes only of the Federation, exercise in relation to his State such functions as may be vested in him by or under this Act; and
( b ) assumes the obligation of ensuring that due effect is given within his State to the provisions of this Act so far as they are applicable therein by virtue of his Instrument of Accession.”
It is this Instrument of Accession which confers authority upon the Crown in the first instance so far as an Indian State is part of the Federation and