Provincial Autonomy and Its (Anti)Colonial Limits, 1935–8*

This chapter revisits a pivotal moment in Indian constitutional history, namely, the implementation of the Government of India Act, 1935. In particular, it highlights a hitherto unknown aspect of this history by closely examining the role that Rau played in the implementation of this colonial legislation. Appointed as an Officer on Special Duty, Rau, for the first time acquired national and international prominence by creatively interpreting the idea of a constitution that he argued underlined the 1935 Act. However, both the colonial government and the Indian nationalist forces resisted Rau’s interpretation, thereby evidencing the manifestation of a tension-prone relationship between colonialism, nationalism, and constitutionalism.