538 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
prerogative of the Crown. It is true that Paramountcy as a prerogative of the Crown differs from the ordinary preogative of the Crown in two respects :
( a ) The basis of the ordinary prerogative of the Crown lies in Common Law as distinguished from Statute Law while the basis of the prerogative arising from Paramountcy lies in treaties supplemented by usage.
( b ) The Common Law prerogative of the Crown extends to all the Subjects of the Crown resident in the King’s dominions and over aliens temporarily resident therein while Paramountcy as a prerogative extends only over the Indian States. Paramountcy is no doubt a distinct part of the prerogative of the Crown. Notwithstanding these differences the fact remains that Paramountcy is prerogative of the Crown.
(II) Paramountcy being the prerogative of the King, the exercise of Paramountcy is, contrary to the general opinion, not subject to the rules of international law but is subject to that part of the municipal law of the British Empire which is called the Law of the Constitution.
(III) According to the principle of the Constitutional Law of the British Empire while the prerogative vests in the King, the King has no discretion in the exercise of his prerogative. The King cannot exercise it independently of the advice of his Ministers. He can exercise it only in accordance with the advice given to him by the Ministers.
Transfer of Paramountcy
“The different methods of disposing of Paramountcy adopted in the various acts passed by Parliament relating to the Government of India between 1833 to 1935 do not and cannot in any way affect the claim of the Indian people to advise the Crown in the exercise of Paramountcy. Under the Constitutional Law of the Empire, only when a country has become a Dominion that it can claim the