On Feb. 20, 1947 the British Prime Minister clement Attlee made a statement in the British Parliament declaring that:
i. India shall be given independence by June 1948.
ii. If the Constituent Assembly fails to frame constitution within the stipulated time limit, the British government shall decide whether the powers are to be transferred to a central government or certain provincial governments.
iii. Mountbatten was appointed viceroy; he was to replace Wavell.
Mountbatten reached India in the last week of March 1947. He discussed matters with the Indian leaders and was convinced that it was not possible to keep India united for a longer period of time. Mountbatten worked out a partition plan and in May 1947 he flew to England to seek approval of the British Government on the plan. The approval was readily granted. On his return back he took seven important Indian leaders on June 2, 1947 including the Quaid-e-Azam in confidence. Given approval by all major Indian political parties the partition plan was announced by the Viceroy on June 3, 1947, following are the silent features of this Plan:
i. The British Government shall not impose its own constitution on India. The Indian Constituent Assembly shall frame a Constitution under which the government of the Indian Union shall be run. This Constitution, however, shall not be mandatory for the units unwilling to adopt it. These units shall be allowed to form constituent assemblies to frame constitutions of their own choice.
ii. The Provincial Assemblies shall be entitled to decide which of the two Constituent Assemblies their respective provinces shall join. The Plan stipulated different formulas for the provinces of the Punjab, Bengal the NWFP, Balochistan and for the district of Sylhet in East Bengal.
iii. The Princely States were also offered an option to join either of the two states, keeping in view their geographical position and "other conditions", or to remain independent by making treaty arrangements with either of the two successor states.
iv. Powers were to be transferred by the British to one or two successor states, with "Demonian Status" during the same year.
