UPSC Prelims 2017 Question:

The object of the Butler Committee of 1927 was to

Explanation: 

• • The Butler Committee was set up in 1927 under the chairmanship of Sir Harcourt Butler to examine the nature of relationship between the Princely States and Government.

• In the Committee's report of 1929, the "Paramountcy" doctrine was reaffirmed. But “paramountcy” was left undefined. Its recommendations were as follows:

• • The relationship of the princely states with the British empire was not merely a contractual relationship, but a living, growing relationship shaped by the circumstances and policy, resting on the mixture of history and theory.
  • British paramountcy to stay intact(solid) to preserve the princely state.
  • State should not be transferred without their own consent to a relationship with a new government in British India responsible to an Indian Legislature.
    
    
• The Nehru Committee criticized the appointment of Butler Committee and stated that the rights and obligations of Paramountcy should be transferred to the government of Commonwealth of India and conflicts between Commonwealth of India and Indian states were to be referred to the Supreme Court.
  
  

Therefore, option (4) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | British Administration and Policies in India