Ministry of States, Government of India

“ The decision regarding the lapse of paramountcy was a direct consequence of the theory of personal contract and of the 'non-transferability' of treaty rights without the consent of the Rulers. The doctrine of lapse of paramountcy over Indian States was developed by British legal acumen for conserving the "comradeship in danger and difficulty" between the Imperial power and the Rulers in a context when complete withdrawal of British Power had not been envisaged as a real possibility. ”