M.A. Jinnah and the Baluchistan Frontier: The Privy Council Appeal in Secretary of State vs. Sardar Rustam Khan (Jamali Case)

Sub title : Sovereignty, Jurisdiction, and Land Rights in the Khanate of Kalat

Subject: Colonial Law | Privy Council | Baluchistan | Khanate of Kalat | Sovereignty

Date of publication: 1941

Language: English

Page: 99 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 27469

Keyword: Privy Council — Jamali Case — Sardar Rustam Khan | Khan of Kalat | 1903 Agreement — Nasirabad | Sovereignty — Cession — British Baluchistan —Secretary of State for India

Abstract: This official file documents the Privy Council appeal (1941) concerning a land dispute in the Nasirabad district of Baluchistan. The core legal issue was the interpretation of the 1903 Agreement with the Khan of Kalat, debating whether it constituted a session of sovereignty or merely of administrative control. The judgment, delivered by Lord Atkin, reversed the lower court's decision, upholding the British Government's authority.

Description: This confidential government file provides a complete administrative and legal record of a significant Privy Council case from British India. It details the appeal by the Secretary of State against a Baluchistan court's decision that had awarded land to local Sardars. The documents, including internal notes, encrypted telegrams, and the final judgment, reveal the strategic and legal reasoning of the British government in managing frontier territories. The case is contextualized within the career of M.A. Jinnah, a foremost lawyer and statesman who operated at the pinnacle of this complex legal and political system. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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