PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 19
things follow from this. The first is that this Bill does not apply to those States whose Instrument of Accession does not contain this clause; secondly, that this applies only to those States whose Instrument of Accession contains such a clause and which have voluntarily granted to the Dominion Government the rights, whether they arose out of treaty or sufferance or usage, which were exercised by the British Government; they have transferred them voluntarly to the Indian Dominion, and they may do so in future. Now the point is that all that the Bill does is this that wherever any State has granted to the Dominion jurisdiction by virtue of its Instrument of Accession the Central Government will have the legal authority to exercise that jurisdiction. There is no case of usurpation at all; it is merely giving legal authority to rights and jurisdictions which have been voluntarily transferred by the Indian States to the Dominion of India. Therefore the first thing that I should like to emphasise is that there is no clandestine effort in the Bill to usurp any authority as against any Indian State which has not voluntarily surrendered its authority in this respect to the Dominion Government. I think that ought to put at rest all the doubts and suspicions which have been expressed in this House with regard to this Bill. And I do not think that if honourable Members bear in mind what I have stated there will be any necessity for very many of the amendments which I find on the order paper.
I do not want to say anything more because that is all that I wanted to say but my honourable friend Mr. Santhanam while making his observations on the Bill said that there was an inconsistency in the position which I took yesterday and the position as it arises from this Bill. I think my honourable friend Mr. Santhanam must have completely misunderstood what I said yesterday. What I said then was that having regard to the fact that the Nursing Bill had reference to entry No. 16 in the concurrent legislative list there was never any possibility of the Dominion Government acquiring any jurisdiction because the Instruments of Accession and the Indian States have made it absolutely clear that if they at all join the Indian Union they will join it only with respect