271. Subject as hereinafter provided, any property in the territory of India except the States for the time being specified in Part III of the First Schedule which, if this Constitution had not come into operation, would have accrued to His Majesty by escheat or lapse, or as bona vacantia for want of a rightful owner, shall, if it is property situate in a State for the time being specified in Part I of the First Schedule, vest in such State for the purposes of the Government of that State, and shall, in any other case, vest in the Union for the purposes of the Government of India.Provided that any property which at the date when it would have so accrued to His Majesty was in the possession or under the control of the Government of India or the Government of a State for the time being specified in Part I of the First Schedule shall, according as the purposes for which it was then used or held were purposes of the Union or of a State so specified, vest in the Union for the purposes of the Government of India or in the State for the purposes of the Government of that State.
