The British Parliamentary law that ended British rule in India, creating the two independent dominions of India and Pakistan with effect from 15 August 1947.
- Received royal assent on 18 July 1947 and gave legal effect to the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June 1947.
- Ended British paramountcy over the princely states and left each state free to accede to India or Pakistan or to remain independent.
- Provided that each dominion would have a Governor-General appointed by the Crown but acting on the advice of the dominion's cabinet; the dominion legislatures became sovereign law-making bodies.
- Made the existing Constituent Assemblies the dominion legislatures, empowered to frame their own constitutions, until then governed broadly by the Government of India Act, 1935, as adapted.
- Dropped the title "Emperor of India" from the British Crown and ended the office of Secretary of State for India.
It is the actual legal instrument of independence (15 August 1947), the end of paramountcy, and the interim governing arrangement before the Constitution, all examinable.
The Indian Independence Act, 1947, made India a dominion, not a republic; until the Constitution took effect on 26 January 1950, India was governed under the adapted Government of India Act, 1935.
1947 Act: ended British rule; created the dominions of India and Pakistan from 15 August 1947; ended paramountcy over princely states.