Arrange the following events in a chronological order and select the correct answer from the codes given below : I. Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession. II. Constitution of India was enforced. III. Accession to India ratified by the Sovereign Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. IV. New Constitution of the State of Jammu and Kashmir came into force.

The correct answer is C. The events run in the order 1947, 1950, 1954, 1957.

• I (26 October 1947): Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession after the tribal invasion from Pakistan. The State acceded to India on defence, external affairs and communications.
• II (26 January 1950): The Constitution of India came into force.
• III (6 February 1954): The Sovereign Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir ratified the accession.
• IV (26 January 1957): The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir came into force, after the State's Constituent Assembly completed its work in 1956.

Option A places the State Constitution before the ratification, which is wrong. Option B puts ratification before the Instrument of Accession, which is impossible. Option D reverses the whole timeline.

Core concept: the constitutional integration of J&K through accession, ratification and internal constitution-making, which led to Article 370. For Mains GS-2, this underpins any discussion of Article 370's history and its 2019 abrogation.

Trap: Aspirants often mix up the 1954 ratification with the 1957 commencement of the State Constitution, or assume the J&K Constitution took effect on 26 January 1950 with the Indian Constitution.