Government of India Act 1935

175Power to acquire property and to make contracts, &c.

(1)The executive authority of the Federation and of a Province shall extend, subject to any Act of the appropriate Legislature, to the grant, sale, disposition or mortgage of any property vested in His Majesty for the purposes of the government of the Federation or of the Province, as the case may be, and to the purchase or acquisition of property on behalf of His Majesty for those purposes respectively, and to the making of contracts:

Provided that any land or building used as an official residence of the Governor-General or a Governor shall not be sold, nor any change made in the purposes for which it is being used, except with the concurrence, in his discretion, of the Governor-General or the Governor, as the case may be.

(2)All property acquired for the purposes of the Federation or of a Province or of the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States, as the case may be, shall vest in His Majesty for those purposes.

(3)Subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to the Federal Railway Authority, all contracts made in the exercise of the executive authority of the Federation or of a Province shall be expressed to be made by the Governor-General, or by the Governor of the Province, as the case may be, and all such contracts and all assurances of property made in the exercise of that authority shall be executed on behalf of the Governor-General or Governor by such persons and in such manner as he may direct or authorise.

(4)Neither the Governor-General, nor the Governor of a Province, nor the Secretary of State shall be personally liable in respect of any contract or assurance made or executed for the purposes of this Act, or for the purposes of the Government of India Act or of any Act repealed thereby, nor shall any person making or executing any such contract or assurance on behalf of any of them be personally liable in respect thereof.