●  It was an annexation policy used as an administrative policy for the extension of British Paramountcy.

●  Applied by East India Company in India until 1859.

●  The doctrine stated that any princely state come under the vassalage of the company will how provesits territory annexed should the ruler of the said if the state fails to produce an heir. The doctrine and its application were regarded by many Indians as illegitimate.

●  The Doctrine of Lapse was one of the underlying factors that led to the revolt of 1857.