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, Jawaharlal Nehru (extreme left) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah (right) prepare for the transfer of power from the British Crown.jpg){kind=spacer} |
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| August 15, 1947 : The Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten (center), Jawaharlal Nehru (extreme left) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah (right) prepare for the transfer of power from the British Crown to a divided nation comprising India and Pakistan.Nehru represented the Indian National Congress while Jinnah stood for the Muslim League, which demanded a separate sovereign state for Muslims. Although the British were in favor of a united Indian subcontinent and the 1946 Cabinet Mission attempted to reach a compromise between the Congress and the Muslim League, neither Nehru nor Jinnah agreed to its proposal for a decentralized state with power vested in local governments. August 14, 1947, the dominion of Pakistan (which then included East Pakistan) declared independence from the British Crown. At midnight the following day, India followed suit with Nehru famously heralding our tryst with destiny. | November, 15, 1947 : The Hon'ble Justice Harilal Kania, the first Chief Justice of India, felicitating Governor - General C. Rajagopalachari in November 1947 as Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru watches. - Photo:THE HINDU ARCHIVES |
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January 26, 1950 : On January 26, 1950, the 34th and last Governor-General of India Chakravarti Rajagopalachari read out a proclamation announcing the birth of the Republic of India.The Constitution of India came into effect, declaring India as a sovereign, democratic and secular state. Until this day, India was a dominion under the British Commonwealth acknowledging George VI as King and Emperor. |
March 27, 1948 : Bombay High Court Chief Justice M.C. Chagla (sitting, extreme left) and Chief Justice of India Sir Harilal J. Kania (sitting, fourth from left) with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Chief Justices of other High Courts at the Gymkhana. - Photo:THE HINDU ARCHIVES |
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| Dr. Rajendra Prasad was then sworn in as first President of Republic of India by Chief Justice H. Kania. | Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President of the Constituent Assembly of India, signing a copy of the new Constitution at the Constitutent Assembly Hall in New Delhi in November 1949. |
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Dr. Rajendra Prasad was then sworn in as first President of Republic of India by Chief Justice H. Kania. |
August, 15, 1947 : Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar being sworn in as independent India's first law minister |
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| January 26, 1950 : The entire ceremony was reported with great precision in Fauji Akhbar, a now-defunct Urdu magazine for Indian troops. This is why we know that India became a sovereign democratic republic at precisely 10.18 am, when C Rajagopalachari, last Governor-General of India, declared it so. Exactly six minutes later, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court swore in Rajendra Prasad as India’s first president. | January 28: 1950: A photograph taken on the occasion of the inaugural sitting of the Supreme Court of India. (Top row, from left): Justices S.R. Das, M.C. Mahajan, S. Fazl Ali, H.J. Kania, M. Patanjali Sastri and B.K. Mukherjea. (Bottom row): Chief Justices of the High Courts B. Malik, M.C. Chagla, P.V. Rajamannar, B. Ray, Thadani, Vivian Bose, Eric Watson, H.V. Divatia, Teja Singh, Meddappa, R.S. Naik, P.K. Kaul and Kunhiraman. - Courtesy:The Hindu |
