The Jammu and Kashmir Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 October 1947.

Parties

By executing an Instrument of Accession under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede his state to the Dominion of India. On 27 October 1947, the then Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten accepted the accession. In a letter sent to Maharaja Hari Singh on the same day, he said, "it is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Jammu and Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the people." Islamic Republic of Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah stated that the accession was "fraudulent", and that the Maharaja "betrayed" trust by acceding to India at a time when a standstill agreement signed as per his personal request to the Maharaja was still in force. The accession to India is celebrated on Accession Day, which is held annually on 26 October.

Text

The text of the Instrument of Accession, excluding the schedule mentioned in its third point, is as follows: Whereas the Indian Independence Act, 1947, provides that as from the fifteenth day of August, 1947, there shall be set up an independent Dominion known as INDIA, and that the Government of India Act, 1935 shall with such omissions, additions, adaptations and modifications as the Governor General may by order specify, be applicable to the Dominion of India. And whereas the Government of India Act, 1935, as so adapted by the Governor General, provides that an Indian State may accede to the Dominion of India by an Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler thereof. Now, therefore, I Shriman Inder Mahinder Rajrajeswar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hari Singhji Jammu & Kashmir, Ruler of Jammu & Kashmir State, in the exercise of my Sovereignty in and over my said State do hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession and Given under my hand this 26th day of OCTOBER, nineteen hundred and forty seven. Hari Singh Maharajadhiraj of Jammu and Kashmir State. I do hereby accept this Instrument of Accession. Dated this twenty seventh day of October, nineteen hundred and forty seven. (Mountbatten of Burma, Governor General of India).

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Instrument of accession Kašmir | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Kashmir///Accessiuon///document///side///1.jpg]

[P2.

Instrument of accession Kašmir | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Kashmir///Accessiuon///document///side///2.jpg]

Schedule

The Schedule referred to in paragraph 3 of the Instrument of Accession reads as follows: SCHEDULE OF INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION THE MATTERS WITH RESPECT TO WHICH THE DOMINION LEGISLATURE MAY MAKE LAWS FOR THIS STATE A. Defence B. External Affairs C. Communications D. Ancillary

Date

While the Instrument of Accession carries the date of 26 October, some scholars believe that it was actually signed on 27 October. However, the fact that the Governor General accepted the accession on 27 October, the day the Indian troops were airlifted into Kashmir, is generally accepted. An Indian commentator, Prem Shankar Jha, has argued that the accession was actually signed by Hari Singh on 25 October 1947, just before he left Srinagar for Jammu. Before taking any action on the Maharaja's request for help, the Government of India decided to send V. P. Menon, representing it, who flew to Srinagar on 25 October. On realizing the state of emergency, Menon advised the Maharaja to leave immediately for Jammu, for his own safety. He followed this advice and left Srinagar for Jammu that night, while Menon and Prime Minister Mahajan flew to Delhi early the next morning, 26 October. When they reached there, the Indian Government promised Menon and Mahajan military assistance for Jammu and Kashmir, but only after the Instrument of Accession had been signed. Hence, Menon immediately flew back to Jammu with the Instrument. The official version of events is that on his arrival, he contacted the Maharaja, who was asleep after a long journey, but who at once signed the Instrument. Menon then flew back immediately to Delhi with the legal documents on 26 October.

Commentary

In 1950, a United States Department of State memorandum prepared by American diplomats George C. McGhee and John D. Hickerson, approved by Secretary of State Dean Acheson, stated on the basis of an Office of Legal Counsel opinion that the Instrument of Accession could not finalize the accession to either dominion. According to this memorandum, the Attorney General for England and Wales and Foreign Office legal advisors felt that the accession was inconsistent with Kashmir's obligations to Pakistan, and for that reason it was "perhaps invalid".

References and notes