# Kt.JNWAR SHRI VIR RAJENDRA SINGH v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS

- **Citation:** [1970] 2 S.C.R. 631
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1969-09-30
- **Case number:** Writ Petition No. 190 of 1966
- **Bench:** S. M. SIKRl, G. K. Mitter, K. S. Hegde, A. N. Ray, P. Jaganmohan Reddy
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/kt-jnwar-shri-vir-rajendra-singh-v-union-of-india-ors-4928
- **Pages:** 8

## Headnote

Constitution of India, 1950, Am. 363 and 366(22)-Recognllion as
Ruler of Indian State by President of India between two rival c/illmantslf also recognition of right to private property.
The Dbolpur State was one of the States which merged to form. the
United States of Rajasthan. Article XII of the Covenant entered mto
among tho Rulers of the several States provided that the Ruler of each
covenanting State shall be entitled to the full ownership, use and enjoyment of all private properties belonging to him, and Art. XIV provided,
that Succession according to law ·and custom, to the gaddi of such covenanting State, and to the personal rights, privileges, dignities and titles of the
Ruler were guaranteed.
On the death of the last Ruler of Dholpur in 1954 without any male
issue, a. controverrsy, as to who was entitled to the rulership, arose between
the petitioner, who was a senior member of a collateral branch, and the
son adopted by the widow of the last ruler. The Government of India con·
stituted a Committee consisting of the Chief Justice of the Rajastban High
Court and the Rulers of two other merging States to exam1ne the rival
contentions. The petitioner took part in the proceedin.11s before the Com·
mittee, relied on Art. XI'/ of the Covenant, and disputed the jurisdiction
of the Committee to go into the' question. The Committee submitted its
report ll!ld the President of India recognised the adopted ron a& the Ruler
of DhQ)pur, under Art. 366(22) of the Constitution.
On the question of the validity of such recognition,
HELD: (I) Under Art. 366 (22i the power of the President to re·
cognise a Ruler is inherent in the Article. The words 'for the time being
is recognised by the President' in the Article, are used not only in relation
to a Ruler but also in relation to a successor of such Ruler. [636 C-EJ
(2) Such an act oi recognition is an exercise of political power by the
President. It is a matter of personal status, and not of inheritance m· of
descent by devolution, nor is it based only on covenants and treati~. The
covenants ceased to be effective after the enactment of the Constitution
in so far as they were inconsistent with the Constitution, (637 B.CJ
( 3) The power to recognise a Ruler which is conferred on the Presi·
dent by the Constitution cannot be challenged on the ground that the
power is unguided.
It was in fact exercised by appointing a
committee lO examine the rival claims. Whatever rights the petitioner
asserted in regard to succession were the sublect matter of enquiry by the
Comittee. If t'1e petitioner sought to rely on Art. XIV of the Covenant, be had to establish such a right based on custom or law before the
appropriate authority. Under Art. 363 a dispute arising out of such recognition by virtue of a Covenant is not justiciable in a court of law. [636
E-H; 637 A-Bl
( 4) The right IQ private property is not embraced within Art. 366(22),
and the President's notification recognising the Ruler did not state that
the Ruler thereby became entitled to priv•te properties of the late Ruler,
632
SUPP,!MI! COUP,T REPORTS
[1970) 2 s.c.R.
nor did It !ll!ect any print• property in the poa-111n of tb.o petitiwor.
It ooly recoplaed the right to •11~d to the gailllt of !hi Rlllor.
ii~ob
recognition entitles the 11.ulor to the enj~ment of the prl\IY pune and
the penonal riabte, privlleaea and dlainlttea of the 11.uler of 111 Indian
State. But the payment of any awn u privy pune is from the coneolidated fund of India and, tile privy J1Ul8C is not an item of private property to whlcb the lluler succeeds. Therefore, there is no infrinament of
the petitioner's ril!hts under Art. 19( 1) (f) or Art. 31 by 112y executive
fiat [635 E.-H; 636 A·B; 637 D]
.
( 5) Nor did aucb reeogaition instantaneously invest tho 11.uler with
propel'\Y on tho basis that rulersbip and property were blended to11c\ber.
If the petitioner had any competing ri!Pts with the Ruler in relation to
any private property of tho last Ruler, of which the R

## Text

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Kt.JNWAR SHRI VIR RAJENDRA SINGH
v.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
September 30, 1969
(S. M. SIKRl, G. K. MITTER, K. S. HEGDE, A. N. RAY AND
P. JAGANMOHAN REDDY, JJ.]
Constitution of India, 1950, Am. 363 and 366(22)-Recognllion as
Ruler of Indian State by President of India between two rival c/illmantslf also recognition of right to private property.
The Dbolpur State was one of the States which merged to form. the
United States of Rajasthan. Article XII of the Covenant entered mto
among tho Rulers of the several States provided that the Ruler of each
covenanting State shall be entitled to the full ownership, use and enjoyment of all private properties belonging to him, and Art. XIV provided,
that Succession according to law ·and custom, to the gaddi of such covenanting State, and to the personal rights, privileges, dignities and titles of the
Ruler were guaranteed.
On the death of the last Ruler of Dholpur in 1954 without any male
issue, a. controverrsy, as to who was entitled to the rulership, arose between
the petitioner, who was a senior member of a collateral branch, and the
son adopted by the widow of the last ruler. The Government of India con·
stituted a Committee consisting of the Chief Justice of the Rajastban High
Court and the Rulers of two other merging States to exam1ne the rival
contentions. The petitioner took part in the proceedin.11s before the Com·
mittee, relied on Art. XI'/ of the Covenant, and disputed the jurisdiction
of the Committee to go into the' question. The Committee submitted its
report ll!ld the President of India recognised the adopted ron a& the Ruler
of DhQ)pur, under Art. 366(22) of the Constitution.
On the question of the validity of such recognition,
HELD: (I) Under Art. 366 (22i the power of the President to re·
cognise a Ruler is inherent in the Article. The words 'for the time being
is recognised by the President' in the Article, are used not only in relation
to a Ruler but also in relation to a successor of such Ruler. [636 C-EJ
(2) Such an act oi recognition is an exercise of political power by the
President. It is a matter of personal status, and not of inheritance m· of
descent by devolution, nor is it based only on covenants and treati~. The
covenants ceased to be effective after the enactment of the Constitution
in so far as they were inconsistent with the Constitution, (637 B.CJ
( 3) The power to recognise a Ruler which is conferred on the Presi·
dent by the Constitution cannot be challenged on the ground that the
power is unguided.
It was in fact exercised by appointing a
committee lO examine the rival claims. Whatever rights the petitioner
asserted in regard to succession were the sublect matter of enquiry by the
Comittee. If t'1e petitioner sought to rely on Art. XIV of the Covenant, be had to establish such a right based on custom or law before the
appropriate authority. Under Art. 363 a dispute arising out of such recognition by virtue of a Covenant is not justiciable in a court of law. [636
E-H; 637 A-Bl
( 4) The right IQ private property is not embraced within Art. 366(22),
and the President's notification recognising the Ruler did not state that
the Ruler thereby became entitled to priv•te properties of the late Ruler,
632
SUPP,!MI! COUP,T REPORTS
[1970) 2 s.c.R.
nor did It !ll!ect any print• property in the poa-111n of tb.o petitiwor.
It ooly recoplaed the right to •11~d to the gailllt of !hi Rlllor.
ii~ob
recognition entitles the 11.ulor to the enj~ment of the prl\IY pune and
the penonal riabte, privlleaea and dlainlttea of the 11.uler of 111 Indian
State. But the payment of any awn u privy pune is from the coneolidated fund of India and, tile privy J1Ul8C is not an item of private property to whlcb the lluler succeeds. Therefore, there is no infrinament of
the petitioner's ril!hts under Art. 19( 1) (f) or Art. 31 by 112y executive
fiat [635 E.-H; 636 A·B; 637 D]
.
( 5) Nor did aucb reeogaition instantaneously invest tho 11.uler with
propel'\Y on tho basis that rulersbip and property were blended to11c\ber.
If the petitioner had any competing ri!Pts with the Ruler in relation to
any private property of tho last Ruler, of which the Ruler came into pos·
session after his recognition by the President, such a claim 1$ not a fund•·
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mental right, nor was it established in any court of law. [637 F-H, 638
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ORIGINAL JURISDICTION ; Writ Petition No. 190 of 1966.
Petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India for the
enforcement of fundamental rights and Civil Appeal No. 1949
of 1966.
Appeal by special leave .from the orcter, dated May 6, 1963
of the Punjab High Court, Circuit Bench at Delhi in Letters
Patent Appeal No. 4S-D of 1963.
Frank Anthony, M. V. Goswami,
E.
C.
Agrt1wal1J and
S. R. Agrawala, for the petitioner/appellant (in both the matters).
Niren De, Attorney-General, L. M.
Singhvi,
and R. N.
Sachthey, for respondent No. 1 (in W.P. No. 190 of 1966) and
respondents Nos. 1 and 2 (in C.A. No. 1949 of.1966).
M. C. Setalvad, C. K. Daphtary, A. K. Sen, Rameshwar Nath,
P. L. Vohra and Mahinder Narain, for respondent No. 3 (in both
the matters) .
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Ray, J, This is a common judginent in Writ Petition No. 190
of 1966 and Civil Appeal No. 1949 of 1966. The appellant
made an application under Article 226 of the Constitution in the
High Court of Punjab some time in the month of August, 1957,
inter alia, for the re!ief as to why the records and proceedings of
the case relating to the Dholpur Succession Enquiry Committee
and the several notifications in that behalf mentioned in the peti·
tion should not be quashed.
In the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution the peti·
tioner asked for quashing all actions and proceedings,
crders,
directions and resolutions in connection with ::he delivery of the
properties of the late Ruler of Dholpur to the respondent Hemant
Singh, the adopted son of the late Ruler of Dhoipur.
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&AJENDRA SINGH v. UNION· (Ray, /.)
633
For the sake of brevity the petitioner who happens also to be
the appellant will be reterred to as the petitioner in this judgment.
The petitioner alleges that Maharaj Rana Udaibhan Singh of
Dholpur died on 22 October, 1954 leaving behind private properties worth more than three crores of rupees.
The estate left
behind by the said Ruler of Dholpur is claimed to be an impartible
estate and, therefore, the petitioner claims to be entitled to the
said estate accordini: to law and custom of lineal male primogeni·
ture.
The Dholpur State was formed in 1806. After the Indian
Independence Act, 1947 the Dholpur State became integrated
with the Matsya Union some time in the month of March, 1948.
On 30 March, 1949 the United State of Rajasthan was formed.
The Matsya Union was eventually merged in the United State of
Rajasthan on 15 May, 1949. Some time in the month of March,
1949 there was a Covenant among the Rulers of several States
. comprised in the United State of Rajasthan. The Covenant inter
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alia, pr1Jvidcd in Article XII that the Ruler of each covenantlug
State shall be entitled to the full ownership, use and enjoyment of
all private properties belonging to him on the date of his making
over the administration of the State to the United State of Rajasthan and if any dispute arose as to whether any item of property
is the private propcny or not, the dispute shall be referred to such
E
person as the Government of India may nominate.
Article XIV
of the said Covenant provided that succession according to law'
and customs, to the Gaddi of each convenanting State, and to the
personal rights, privileges, dignities and titles of the Ruler were
guaranteed and every question of disputed succession in r.egard
to a Covenanting State was to be decided by the Council of Rulers
F
after referring the same to the High Coun of the United State of
Rajasthan and in acordance with the opinion given by that High
Court.
On I 0 May, 1949 the Dholpur State and other States of
the Matsyr. Union which merged with the United State of Rajasthan adopted the covenant of the Rulers comprised in the United;
State of Rajasthan.
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The last Ruler of Dholpur died on 22 October, 1954 and did
not leave him surviving wiy direct male heir.
The petitioner
alleged that the petitioner and his brother were the sons of the undivided next younger brother of the late Ruler and were therefore
the next senior survivors to the succession according to' the Jaw of
prim_oiienit11;re.
The_ last
Ruler of Dholpur left. behind him
H
surv1vmg his daughter who was
married to the Maharaja of·
Nabha.
The last Ruler's widow adopted a grandson, viz., one
of the sons of the daughter and thus arose a controversy as to
who was entitled to the Rulership of Dholpur.
634
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(1970] :i s.c.11..
The Government Qf India by notification dated 22 December,
l~J<+ cousu<u•eu a 1...ou1mmee cun,1sung O• the then crue1 Jusllet:
of the Kajasthan High Court, the Maharaja ot Bharatpur and the
Maru ... :ao 01 1\.otah 10 examme the comentions or the various
claunants and to report to the Goverll!llent of 1nd1a who in the
juugwcnr 01 tne saJO Committee was to be recognised by the
hes1ueat as the Ku1er or Vho1pur. Subsequen•ly, there was. a
change in he Commlltee and the Mabarao or Kotan W<μ replaced
by the Maharaja ot Vungarpur. lt may be sta,ed here that the
petitioner too.K: part in the proceedings before the said Committee
and tb9t the peuuoner relied on Article XlV of the Covenant
and disputed the jmisdiction of the aforesaid Committee to go
into the rival claims of the Rulership of Dholpur.
The Committee held sittings and suomitted a report to the Government of
India.
By notification dated 13 December, 1956, the President
of lndia in pursuance ot clause (22) of Article
366. ot the
Constitution recognised His
Highness
Maharaja
Rana Shri
Hemant Singh as the Ruler of Dholpur with effect from 22nd
October, 1954.
Counsel on· behalf of the petitioner contended, first, that the
handing over or authorising tai::ing over pnvate properties worth
more than three crores of rupees was by executive fiat and the
Government Order was ex-facie bad. and infringed Ai ticles 19 ( l)
(f) and 31 of the Constitution. The second contentio11 was that the
recognition of a Ruler even if it was an instance of exercise of political power of the President was itself an insignia of property and,
therefore, such recognition could only be by authority of law and
would have to yield to fundamental rights.
It was also said on
behalf of the petitioner that after the Constitution, recognition of
Ruler was not an exercise of political power. The third contention was that recognition of the Ruler under clause (22) of
Article 366 of the Constitution meant recognising a fact that a
person was a P Jler and the clause did not h!!ve the effect of empowering the President to create the fact of bringing into effect
a Ruler by recognising a person as a Ruler. As a corollary to
the contention it was amplified that clause (22) of Article 366
was mainly· a defining or interpreting clause and, therefore, did
not empower the President to recognise any Ruler.
The fourth
contention was that if there was any power to recognise the Ruler
.it was an arbitrary and unguided power and it would infringe
the fundamental right to property.
The fifth
contention was
that there was no dispute regarding
Covenant inasmuch as
~uccession did not arise out of the Covenant and,
therefore,
Article 363 of the Constitution was not attracted. The right to
succession to private property was. said . toe be independent of any
covenant.
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RAJENDllA SINGH v. UNION (Ray, ]. )
,635
Tho first queation which falls for consideration is whether
there is any inttingement of Articles 19 ( 1 )( f) ancl 31 of the
Constitution by any executive fiat or the Government order. The
petitioner's contention is that by the executive order private
properties worth more than three crores of rupees were handed
over to the Ruler in violation of the petitioner's fundamental
rights of property.
The notification dated 13 December, 1956
published in the Gazette of India on 22 December, 1956 was as
follows:-
"In pursuance of Clause (22) of Article 366 of the
Constitution of India the President is hereby pleased
to recognise His Highness Maharaj Rana Shri Hemant
Singh as the Ruler of Dholpur with effect from 22nd
October, 1954 in succession to His late Highness Maharajadhiraja Sri Sawai Maharaj Rana Sri Udaibhan
Singhji Lokendra Bahadur Oiler Jang Jai Dco, G.C.I.E.,
K.C.S.l., K.C.V.O."
o
It is apparent that there is no notification by virtue of which the
Ruler bccam~ entitled to private properties.
The notification
which recognised the Ruler did not state that the Ruler thereby
became entitled to private
properties of the late Ruler. Mr.
Attorney-General appearing for Union also made it clear that no
right to property flowed from the Government Order of recogE
nition of Rulership. It is manifest that the right to private pro·
perties of the last Ruler depends upon the personal law of succession to the said private properties. The recognition of the
Ruler is a right to succeed to the gaddi of the Ruler.
This
recognition of Rulership by the President is an exercise of polili·
cal power vested in the President and is thus an instance of purely
executive jurisdiction of the President.
The act of recognition
F
of Rulership is not, as far as the President is concerned, associated with any act of recognition of right to private properties.
In
order to establish that there has been an infringement of rights
to property or proprietary rights, the petitioner has to establish
that the petitioner owns or has a right to property which has been
infringed by the impugned act.
In the present case, the peti·
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tioner cannot be heard to say that the petitioner possesses a.'ly
private property which has been invaded. The petitioner's
contention fails for two reasons.
First, the recognition of Ruler·
ship by the President does not, as far as the President is concerned,
touch any of the
private properties
claimed.
Secondly, the
petitioner does not possess any private property which has been
H
effected by the act of recognition of Rulership.
It must be stated
here that as far as the right to privy purse of a Ruler is concerned,
Article 291 of the Constitution enacts that payment of any sum
which has be'n guaranteed to any Ruler of a State as a privy purse
1SupCT/70-IO
636
SUPllEMB COURT llEPORTS
[1970] 2 s.c.R
shall be charged on and paid out of the consolidated fund of
India.
The privy purse is not an item of private property to
which the Ruler succeeds. Counsel for the petitioner also reali·
sed the effect of Article 291 and did not press the contention of
privy purse being a private property.
The next question for consideration is whether the President
has power to recognise a Ruler.
Counsel on behalf of the petitioner contended that clause (22) of Article 366 of the Constitution was a mere definition and did not confer any right on the President :o recognise a Ruler. This contention is not correct. In the
first place, if it be said that clause (22) of Article 366 does not
empower the President to recognise a Ruler clause (22) will be
robbed of its real content and the definition will be bereft of the
core for which the definition is enacted. Secondly, clause (22)
of Article 366 of the Constituion is the only Article in tlle Constitution which speaks of recognition of Rulership. To suggest that
clause ( 22) does not contain any power will mean that the clause
is empty and is devoid of. the very purpose for which the definition
is enacted. Thirdly, the most significant words in clause (22) of
Articl.e 366 are "for the time being is recognised by the President",
not only in relation to a Ruler but also in relation to a successor of
such Ruler. The words "is recognised by the President" indicate
beyond any doubt that the power of the President to recognise
a Ruler is embedded and inherent in the clause itself. Again,
the words "for the time being" indicate that the President has
power not only to recognise but also to withdraw recognition
whenever occasion arises.
It was said by counsel for the petitioner that Article XIV of
the Covenant which the late Ruler entered into with the United
State of Rajasthan guaranteed succession and, therefore, the petitioner had a fundamental right to claim succession according to
personal law. With the coming into effect of the Constitution
the Staies ceased to exist as separate entities. The Covenants
also ceased to be effective after the enactment of the Constitution
in sc far as he Covenants were inccnsistent with the Constitution.
The meaning of Article XIV of the Covenant is that the claim to
succession on the basis of custom and law is preserved. Article
XIV of the Covenant by itself is not evidence of any custom or
law. If the petitioner relied on Article XIV, the petitioner has
to establish such right based on custom or law before the appropriate authority. Whatever rights the petitioner asserted in regard
to succession were the subject matter of enquiry by the Committe.~
which was constituted by the President io enquire into the rival
claims to recognition of Rulership. The petitioner appeared before the Committee and preferred claims. The Committee was
constituied to examine the contentions of rival claimants.
The
Committee gave its report as to who was best entitled to recognition by the President. It was entirely a mait~r within the proA
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RAJENDRA SINGH v. uN!ON (Ray, J.)
637
vince of the President to recognise a Ruler.
The power to recognise a Ruler which is conferred on the President by the Constitution cannot be challenged on the ground that the power is unguided. The President exercised the power by appointing a Com·
mittee to examine the rival claims.
The recognition of Rulership is one of personal status.
lt
cannot be said that claim to recognition of Rulership is either
purely a matter of inheritance or a matter of descent by devolution. Nor can claim to recognition of Rulership be based only
on covenants and treaties. That is why Article 363 of the Constitution constitutes a bar to interference by Courts in a dispute
arising out of treaties and agreements. No claim to recognition
of Rulership by virtue of a Covenant is justiciable in a Court of
law. The Constitution, therefore, provided for the act of recognition of the Rulership by the President as a political power.
It has to be recognised that the right to private properties of
the Ruler is not embraced within clause (22) of Article 366 of
the Constitution which speaks o! recognition of a Ruler by the
President.
Counsel on behalf of the petitioner contended that the recognition of a Ruler itself instantaneously invested the Ruler with
property and that Rulership and property were blended together.
All illustration of combination of office and property in the case
of Mathadhapati was cited as an analogy.
The property is an
appendage to the office in the case of Maths.
The example of
the office of a trustee furnishes the answer where office and properties are vested in the trustee. It cannot be said that recognition of Rulership is bound up with reco,;nition of private proper·
ties of the Ruler because the former is within the political power
of the President and the latter is governed by the personal Jaw
of succession. Recognition of Rulership by the Presidr11t is not
recognising any right to private properties of the Ruler because
recognition of Rulership is an exercise of the political power of
the President.
The distinction between recognition of Rulership
and succession to private properties of the Ruler has to be kept
in the forefront.
The rights to private properties of Rulers are
not the matters of recognition of Rulership. The recognition of
Rulership is not an indicia of property but it entitles the Ruler to
the enjoyment of the Privy Purse contemplated in Article 291 and
the personal rights, privileges and dignities of the Ruler of an
Indian State mentioned in Article 362 of the Constitution. Therefore, recognition of Rulership is not a deprivation of right
to
property. If the petitioner has any claim to any private property
said to belong to the last Ruler, the petitioner has not established
any such claim in any court of law.
It was said on behalf of the
petitioner that the Ruler after recognition by the President came
638
SUPUMB COUJ.t ll!l'oats
(1970] 2 S.C.ll.
to possess private P.fOPCrties said to belong to the last Ruler. If
the petitioner has any competing rights with the Ruler in relation
to such private properties such a -claim is neither a fundamental
right nor is it comprised in the act of recognition of a Ruler by
the President.
For these reasons, we are of opinion that the contentions of
the petitioner fail. The petition and the appeal ilre both dismissed
with one set of costs.
V.P.S.
Petition and Appeal dismissed.
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