Letter from Chief Minister
Jammu and Kashmir State to Maharaja Pratap Singh
July 2, 1919
Legal Document No
37
In accordance with the direction contained in Your Highness's
letter dated the 28th January 1919, I communicated officially to the Resident
in Kashmir Your Highness's request for the grant of full and unrestricted
powers in the control of the administration of the State and asked him
kindly to move His Excellency the Viceroy to accord his sympathetic and
favourable consideration to it.
The Resident laid Your Highness's request before His Excellency the
Viceroy and has communicated His Excellency's decision thereon in his letter
No. 180-C dated the 28th May, 1919.
I laid this letter before Your Highness and explained its contents.
In accordance with Your Highness's verbal orders the changes sanctioned
by His Excellency are explained below:
(a) Method followed in respect of the tendering of advice by the
Resident in matters of importance.
The procedure in vogue is that a proposal is first submitted to Your
Highness for sanction. If it is sanctioned by Your Highness, it is referred
to the Resident for approval. In future the procedure will be that it will
first be laid before Your Highness. If it is approved or sanctioned by
Your Highness, it will be referred to the Resident by the Chief Minister
demi-officially for advice. The case will be again laid before His in Highness
for final orders after the Resident's advice has been obtained. The present
method will thus be altered so as to ensure that the Resident's advice
will in all cases be obtained before and not after a proposal is submitted
to Your Highness for sanction.
(b) Submission of fortnightly synopsis of proceedings and orders
passed by Your Highness.
In accordance with the condition (viii) of Lord Curzon's Kharita dated
the 30th August 1905, a synopsis of orders passed by Your Highness in certain
cases is to be forwarded to the Resident fortnightly. The Government of
India have agreed that orders passed under headings (a), (c), (d), (e),
(f) and (g) need no longer be reported, provided that any orders passed
in these classes of cases, which are contrary to or involve any important
established principle, are, communicated by the Chief Minister to the Resident,
but orders passed under (b) and (h), viz., (1) orders appertaining to the
frontier, should continue to be reported.
(c) Preparation of Budget
The holding of the annual Budget meetings will be discontinued. The
Budget estimates will in future be submitted to the Chief Minister who,
after consulting Your Highness, will take the advice of the Resident with
regard to individual items included in the Budget will not be required
if the expenditure is devoted to the purpose for which the allotments are
made. Your Highness will also be able to sanction expenditure up to a limit
of Rs. 20,000!- on the entertainment of Ruling Chiefs and other distinguished
guests visiting Kashmir which cannot at present be incurred without Resident's
approval.
It may be added that subject to the limitations imposed by the first
five conditions laid down in Lord Curzon's Kharita dated the 20th August
1905 as subsequently modified; Your Highness possesses and can exercise
powers of veto, revision and review in all cases.
It may also be stated that the Government have sanctioned an increase
in Your Highness Privy Purse allowance from 101akhs per annum with effect
from the Baisakh, the commencement of the current financial year.
If Your Highness approves, the revised procedure will be introduced
forthwith.
Approved. The action may please be taken accordingly
Sd/
Pratap Singh, Maharaja
Lieutenant General, G.C.S. I.,
G.C.I.E., G.B.E., L.L.D., 23-7-1919.
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