Reprieve for the Rajahs

One of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's major political goals has been to abolish the special privileges long accorded to India's 278 maharajahs and rajahs. Last September, after Parliament failed to approve a bill that would amend the constitution and reduce their highnesses to just plain misters, she ordered the President of India, V.V. Giri, to issue a decree achieving the same goal.

To her chagrin, the nation's Supreme Court last week struck down her cherished accomplishment by a 9-to-2 margin. The court agreed with the princes that the decree violated their traditional property rights as guaranteed by the constitution and was therefore illegal.

At least for a while, the princes will continue to enjoy the dazzling array of perquisites that have been theirs ever since the British left India. Their palaces are guarded at government expense and maharajahs are entitled to salutes of anywhere from eleven to 64 guns. Even more important, the princes will be restored to their taxfree, government-provided privy purses, which range from a lordly $345,000 for the Maharajah of Mysore to a lowly $26.50 for the Talukdar of Katodia.

It is virtually certain, however, that Mrs. Gandhi will not allow the court's ruling to stand. Although Parliament adjourned last weekend, she may well introduce at the next session new legislation designed to circumvent the judges' objections. Such a bill might easily pass next time, since it initially failed by a scant one-third of a vote to get the required two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha, Parliament's upper house. There are even rumors that she may dissolve Parliament and call for new elections, using the ruling on the princes as a rallying point to gain a larger majority. In a land where the average annual income is only $70, the princely privileges might well prove to be a popular and politically effective issue.

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